Hyperdimension Neptunia Visitor from another world
by Rachu321
Summary: This fan fiction is based on the first game and is a self-insert and has been re written. A warrior in a war loses everything and is asked by Histoire for help and he sees this as a chance to start anew. I do not own Anything from Hyperdimension Neptunia or anything else mentioned in here, except myself.
1. Prologue

**I'm back people and I have re written this, I can't say it'll be better than the previous one, but all I can do is hope, some changes have been done, but not that many. I deleted the old one because I want to start anew with the reviews and stuff, also, if you didn't see this in the summary, this is a self insert, do not read if you hate self inserts. If you have any questions you want to ask, just message me. With that out of the way, enjoy.**

**Thanking Silius1 for Beta reading the prologue.**

Prologue

The year is 20XX. In a mysterious dimension known simply as Gamindustri; the world was divided into four floating landmasses, each with its own goddess to protect all those who worshiped them. These four lands were called Planeptune, Lastation, Leanbox and Lowee. Each of these landmasses has a goddess to protect them. These goddesses are known as Purple Heart, Black Heart, White Heart and Green Heart.

A young teenager named Ryoichi Osamu with red eyes and red hair, a black shirt, a red jacket big enough to reach just below his knees with symbols on the back which had faded and had parts missing, black pants that were a bit baggy and some sneakers with blades in hand, was in the army of his Kingdom of Planeptune to fight the opposition of the monsters that exist outside the city. He possesses magic that he could use for battle, however he only used magic as a last resort. He eventually regretted this decision as, while he was out of the city with some other soldiers, the kingdom he had lived in was ravaged by a horde of monsters, human corpses lying everywhere with no life in sight instead of those disgusting monsters. He was infuriated beyond belief and desired revenge, with him going on a rampage slaughtering each monster he saw. This led to a quick battle where he had the blood of so many on his hands.

"This isn't enough...I must kill them all!" He thought with the words of slaughter constantly repeating in his head with a blood lust for the monsters that killed so many innocent civilians.

"I'LL DESTROY ALL OF THEM!" He yelled, paving a way through all of the monsters he's fighting.

He went to the demon's stronghold, killing all that stood in his way and was now standing in front of the drawbridge. He took his two swords out and sliced the drawbridge to pieces. He jumped over the moat into the stronghold of the monsters and took them by surprise. They all had their weapons drawn, ready to kill this pitiful human. Unfortunately they didn't know how powerful he was and were all slaughtered with no mercy, he continued until he had reached the demon lord with cuts on his body and was bleeding rather strongly

"WHY?! WHY DID YOU KILL THEM!" He yelled to the demon lord.

The demon lord was about the same height and looked around the same age, he wore a black cloak, black shirt and baggy pants, he dressed similar to Ryoichi except there was another difference, with that being he had small horns on his head. But Ryoichi didn't care about this, he only cared about revenge.

"Why you ask, because they were a nuisance, a thorn in my side, nothing else" He says without even blinking. "And it was fun as hell killing them all, their screams were so beautiful, I had to kill them!" He laughs hysterically after he says that.

"YOU DISGUSTING BASTARD, YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, YOU DIE NOW!" He shouts, charging at him with two blades in hand ready to kill.

It was barely a battle with the demon lord being weaker than Ryoichi had imagined; dealing a fatal blow in one look in the demon lord's eyes as he was dying had one little secret to tell: Ryoichi figured even though he was practically evil, he thought that everyone deserved last words even though he hated his entire existence.

"I had no such powers, I was using rumours to control the demons from behind the scenes making it look like I had such power but I didn't lie about killing them, it was fun while it lasted…" He coughed out a bit of blood at the end.

He stabbed his chest with one of the swords out of pure anger making sure that he was dead and now all that anger and hate was now gone and all that was left was emptiness.

"I guess he was hoping I'd get scared and run away at the thought of facing him" He said slowly with no emotion in his voice.

He got up, walked outside of the now abandoned castle and looked up at the sky with no emotions, only an empty look in his eyes still holding onto his blades that were bathed in the blood of demons. The blade in his right hand was a deep red katana, the one in his left was a blue sword and both had magical markings on the hilt of them. The blue one disappeared while he put the other in its sheath.

"They're all gone, each and every single person...please someone help me, I don't want to be alone" He says quietly while sobbing with no one left to comfort him, as a very large majority of people in the city have been killed in the attack and if there are any survivors, they clearly are not showing themselves anytime soon.

He went back to his now destroyed home and took a rest hoping it was all a bad dream by the time he woke up and slept. The next morning he woke up knowing that it wasn't a dream and faced the harsh reality. That day he buried all of his fallen comrades and mourned for them while sobbing.

After he did this, he recognized that it was night time, with him going to what's left of his house and falling asleep. He woke up in the middle of the night just staring at the sky and hoping that someone could save him from this harsh reality. He felt sleepy after he had thought this and fell asleep, not able to stop himself from all of the events that he has been through the last few days. During his sleep he heard a voice and saw a girl with light purple hair a hoodie, two d-pad clips in her hair and USB cords as strings from the front of her light purple hoodie. She was just a bit shorter than he was in height and had a choker around her neck.

"It's dark… like, pitch black. Where am I? Was there a power outage? Wh-Where's the circuit breaker?!" The girl says in confusion.

"But why am I glowing like I've been splashed with fluorescent pain and stuck under a black light?"

"I wonder who she is and why she is saying that, I don't wanna talk to her, but she is the only one here other than me." He thought. "Um, excuse me but do you know where we are right now or what we're doing here by any chance?" He asks the girl.

"Kyaa! Don't scare me like that, you could have gave me a heart attack!" She suddenly screams, causing Ryoichi to back off a bit.

"Ah! Don't just suddenly scream like that, you just scared me!"

"Back to my question, do you know where we are or why we're here?"

"Nope, do you?" She answered back nearly instantly.

"Then why did you think I asked the question in the first place?" He says back to her.

She was about to answer when Ryoichi said "That's rhetorical, you don't have to answer" He says to her. "Anyways…We need to figure out where we are and why"

"Okay, let's move around a bit, but, ew. Who knows what I could step in…? It could be something like ABC gum!"

"Really, you're worried about gum, but not about where we are or why we're here." He says that while face palming thinking about the stupidity of those lines she just spouted out.

"Well when you say it like that it sounds stupid, but I don't wanna to step in gum because it's nasty and gross!"

"I apologize for the delay, Have you been here long?" A heavenly voice appears out of nowhere.

"Whoa, a voice… I hear a voice! Delay for what? My soul to go to heaven? N-No! I don't wanna die yet!" She says frantically.

"We're not going to heaven, last I checked my heart was still beating, so we're not going to heaven are we, Ms. heavenly voice?" He asks while remaining calm.

"Please, stop being so confused. I did not intend to scare you with my words, you won't be going to heaven or anything like that" She says while trying to keep the girl calm.

"I am Histoire, a tome. You have fallen to the world below Celestia. I am reaching out to you to ask a favour."

"A t-t-t-tomb? I knew it! I'm so dead! What do I want on my tombstone, right? Uhhh, what world below? Below what? Below...hell?!" She says that while panicking.

"She said tome, not tomb you idiot!" He says back to her angrily.

"I'm not an idiot, alright!" She yells back quickly at that statement.

"Not from what I've seen, from what I've heard come out of your mouth, all you appear to me is an idiot" he replies back to her.

She's about to retaliate when the Heavenly voice interrupts.

"Please Neptune. Take a deep breath. You have not died. You have merely fallen unconscious." Says the heavenly voice

"See, told you so." Ryoichi said in a proud voice, with him smirking in contentment.

"Okay, don't have to tell me twice, jeez" She sighed as she says this "…Then Ms Heavenly voice, how do you know my name?"

"You're name is Neptune huh, that's a weird name for a girl"

"Oh, thanks" She says back to him with a naive smile.

"That wasn't a compliment; my name is Ryoichi Osamu by the way, nice to meet ya." He extends his hand out to shake hers.

"Nice to meet ya and what do you mean that wasn't a compliment?" She asks while shaking his hand until the voice cut in.

"I know you are in doubt, but I am Histoire, the tome that has assisted the goddesses of Celestia for generations. I am the world's everything and the world is my everything. There is nothing I do not know." She says that, but Ryoichi finds it a bit hard believing it. "Plus I created you. Of course I know your name." She says with a happy attitude.

"So, you like, gave birth to me or whatever. You're my mom? You've got kids? I see."

"So you're her mom huh." Ryoichi rubs his head the moment he heard that line from her mouth.

"Do… Do not make it sound like that. I created, not birthed. Why do you have such a disappointed tone?" Histoire says while stuttering. "I understand this is a new sensation for you. I have been apart from you all for ages, locked away from this world."

"You're right, this is a new sensation to me, no one has ever contacted me through my dreams before." Ryoichi says with a small amount of disbelief

"Ryo, I guess you're right there" Neptune says quickly as a response

She says Ryo as if it's a nickname and hopes that he heard wrong.

"Oh, okay, I get it now. So my dad locked you up and ran away with me soon after I was born? Since you're my mom, and you're talking to me here, does that mean he is like my long lost brother?"

"No, I'm pretty sure I'm not your brother, or at least I don't think so according to my memory?"

"Oh bummers, I was hoping you were something cool, but you're not, you're clearly just some NPC"

"Hey! I'm not some NPC...I think" He replies to Neptune. "My god, I've been here for five minutes and it's taking a toll on my mental condition" He says that with a hand to his face.

"What do you mean mental condition Ryo?" Neptune asks.

"Let me explain" He says that until Histoire interrupts

"You are taking this in an entirely inappropriate direction. I clearly said it was not like that" Histoire says that quickly trying to clear up the misunderstanding.

"I created you and the other three CPUs with the former goddess. That was however, a dire error."

"I only wish to end the tragedy caused by my own mistake. Please help me!" Right after Histoire asks this, Neptune disappears.

"Shit! She just disappeared into thin air… Please don't kill me Histoire!" He asks jokingly, feigning fear.

"Why would you think that in the first place?!" Histoire says while being surprised "Don't worry, she has just merely woken up."

"Relax, I was joking, I know that we're dreaming." He says while laughing.

"Now I can talk to you freely. Putting it simply, I must ask something of you."

"Yeah, sure, what do I have to do?" He asks her.

"Really?! I've asked so many others, but none of them trusted me, so why are you accepting it?"

"I don't see why not, may as well help." Ryo says.

"Oh thank you so much!" She asks with joy.

"Don't bother thanking me, so what do I have to do?"

"Oh, um yes, I want you to help Neptune in her quest and also, um… I will have to move you from your world to the world of Gamindustri, you don't have to accept if you don't have to"

"I'm still doing it. How am I meant to help her?" He asks.

"It will all be explained in due time, but I will explain who Neptune is and where you will be going."

"Okay then, wait will this be a long story."

"The story is a bit long."

"I wish I had a chair or something to sit on while listening. Oh well, proceed." Ryoichi sighs since he has to stand and listen to this speech.

"Since this is a dream, if you think about it, it will appear" Histoire says.

"Oh, that's good to know, please continue." He says while pulling out a chair with his thoughts and sitting down.

"I will be sending you to Gamindustri, a world with four floating landmasses called Planeptune, Lastation, Lowee and Leanbox."

"Did you just say Planeptune?!" Ryoichi asks in shock, with him originating from Planeptune Kingdom.

"Ah! Yes as a matter of fact I did, is something wrong?"

"No, sorry, it's nothing, proceed."

"I will continue then. Each landmass has a Goddess protecting each one, Planeptune has Purple Heart, Lastation has Black Heart, Lowee has White Heart and Leanbox has Green Heart."

"Yea, okay, keep going."

"The four Goddesses had a war in a place above Gamindustri which is called Celestia."

"So Celestia is like Heaven in Gamindustri"

"I guess it is in a way, next this war was called the Console War where the Goddess' fought each other until one would remain which would make her the one true Goddess of Gamindustri."

"So generally they're just fighting to rule all of Gamindustri right?" He sighs at the fact of hearing this.

"Yes, it is, somehow they got the idea that they were to become the true Goddess by killing each other."

"Wait, I want to know something very important, why did you make four Goddesses in the first place, you already had one Goddess." He asks in confusion, as to why they would do something like this.

"The former Goddess thought of this as a counter measure so she wouldn't abuse her powers."

"Oh I see. She must have been very wise. Anyway, Now how does Neptune fit into all of this?" He asks.

"Neptune is one of the Goddesses. She is Purple Heart, the Goddess of Planeptune."

"Oh, Neptune is one of the Goddesses huh." He says.

"Why do you not seem surprised? If I had told anyone else they would have been surprised so why aren't you?" Histoire asks.

"You wouldn't lie to me; anything you say is probably the truth." He replies.

"That tone, you say that as if you don't care" Histoire says.

"The reasoning for why is something I'll tell you if we ever meet, now continue with the explanation" he replies

"Oh, yes, Neptune was defeated by the other three Goddesses and she fell of Celestia and is now on Planeptune."

"Alright then Histoire if that's what you say." Sighing as he says that.

"Now Histoire, I have a question of extreme importance I must ask you."

"Yes what is it Ryoichi."

"Please answer honestly, am I going to stay sane after this?" He asked her

Histoire didn't answer for a minute.

"Probably?" Histoire responds sheepishly.

"Even the world's everything doesn't know the answer, I guess I'll find that out along the way" He says sighing afterwards. "Now send me there, I don't have anything left there anyway" He says with sadness.

"What do you mean by that?' Histoire asks.

"Nothing, but when you send me there, make sure I'm not going to be in pain when I arrive" He says with a fake smile avoiding her question.

"I can't promise that Ryoichi, I'm sorry, but I'm sending you a few minutes before Neptune hits the ground."

"So she's falling right now?' Ryo asks.

"Yes, I'm sending you there early so that nothing disastrous happens before then, may you get there safely" She says.

"Wait, disastrous, what do you mean by that Histoire? Tell me damn it" He said before a light envelopes him.

"Damn, I can't see anything." He closed his eyes to find that he was waking up.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"I must be going mad" He said before opening his eyes to see that he is in a forest.

"Damn, I wasn't dreaming, for now I've gotta figure out where I am" He said looking around while sighing.

He is in a forest and notices a shooting star heading towards him.

"Why is a shooting star even coming towards me, I know it's possible, but" He said staring at it about to move until he notices something weird about it.

He takes a closer look to find that it's Neptune falling at an incredible speed.

"Of course it's her, damn it, at that speed she could die, should I move out of the way or die trying to save her?" He asked himself.

"I'm going to regret this later, I'm sure of it" He said while getting into a position to catch her in.

She gets closer with each second with sweat dropping down his face, being scared if he was going to make it out alive.

She was now within a second of hitting him; she goes fast enough that he is knocked out by the sheer force.

Sometime later he wakes up in a bed to find that his surrounded by pink.

"I must have died, I wonder if I'm in hell right now" He said while getting up.

"Where's my sword and jacket?" He asked while looking around the room.

He exited the room to find the entire house was pink. He was surprised by the colour of everything.

"Is that?" He asked while searching for them to find a girl and a sleeping Neptune.

The girl was wearing a jumper where the sleeves weren't attached, a brown collar on her neck with a heart on it, her hair was slightly curled and light orange, a black hairband was worn with something that looked like pacman on it and a satchel with hearts on it.

"Oh, you're up. Good morning, sleepyhead! Well, good afternoon, technically…" She said to him.

"Good afternoon, who are you and am I dead?" he asked.

"No, you're not dead, you were sleeping and my name is Compa Mr…" She said not knowing his name.

"Me, my name is Ryoichi Osamu, nice to meet you" He replied to her.

"Nice to meet you Mr Ryo" She replied back to him.

"Please, you can take off the Mr and call me Ryoichi" He told her before an alarm clock went off.

This surprised the two and woke Neptune up.

"Good morning, did you sleep well?" Ryo asked jokingly.

"Good morning" She said while taking a look at the room.

"Um, this isn't my room, huh? Is it yours? Why'm I tucked into your bed so snugly and why is your room pink?" She asked Ryo.

"It's not my room, it's hers" He said pointing to Compa.

"Well, let's see. It all happened last night. I was looking up into the sky and saw a shooting star. That was you" Compa told her.

"I was a shooting star? Are you yanking my hoodie strings? I fell from the sky?" Neptune asked.

"I'm pretty sure. I followed you to the ground with my eyes and you were caught by Ryo here" She said.

"I caught her huh, more like I tried and got knocked out" He thought after hearing that.

"I carried you two to my beds, since you were passed out!" Compa told them

"All by yourself? That's cool, thanks! You're a lot stronger than you look." Neptune said.

"With the way you look, people wouldn't think that you were so strong." Ryo said.

"I attend a nursing school. Transporting limp bodies is part of our training, so I'm used to it!" Compa replied to the two.

"My name is Compa, um…"

"Oh, I'm Neptune, Compa, huh? Then should I call you… Com… uh… whatever. Compa's fine. Who might you be?" Neptune asked Ryo.

"Me, I'm Ryoichi Osamu" He said thinking that she didn't remember the dream.

"Ryoichi, I feel like I've heard that somewhere before, but oh well, nice to meet ya Ryo" Neptune said.

"It's nice to meet you, Nept-… Neppee-… Neptaa-… Ne-pelvis… Nep… tumor… W-Wahh…" Compa said struggling to make a nickname.

"Oh, is it confusing you? Okay, then you can call me Neptuna, Nep-Nep, Neppermint, or something else!" Ryo face palmed when he heard this wondering why nicknames were necessary.

"Okay, then I pick Nep-Nep. It's nice to meet you, Nep-Nep!" Compa said.

"By the by, I noticed you two are all beat up everywhere. Allow me to take a look real quick." Compa told the two of them.

"Oh, yeah, I am kinda scraped up, huh? Thanks, nurse-in training, I'm trusting you with this important task!" Neptune said.

"Sure, but I've just started… and I'm not too savvy… I get bandages all tangled up." Compa said

"You injuries aren't bad, but the scratches need disinfecting. After that I'll wrap you up." Compa said to the two of them.

"You take a look at Neptune first" Ryo told her.

"Okay, Nep-Nep, it might sting a little, but hang in there. How much bandage should I use? A little? A lot?" Compa said

"Hmm, use it all up! Wrap me up good so it doesn't come loose. Besides, it's a waste if they don't last." Neptune said.

"While you do that, I'm going to head outside for some fresh air" Ryo said.

"Wait, but you're beat up as well, I need to take a look at you as well." Compa said to him.

"My injuries aren't life threatening so I'll be outside till you finish, just call me when it's my turn" he said before heading outside.

"Okay, Nep-Nep, I'll just use what I have. Please let me know if it's too tight. Please let me know if it's too tight. This way… that way… loop it over…"

Outside Ryo leaned against the wall of the house and looked at the sky.

"I guess I'm in a different world after all huh, who knew, I wonder what's happening back home now that the demon lord is gone, what'll happen to the other Kingdoms" He said staring at the sky thinking.

Inside the house

"Huh? Nrrgh, h-hold on, slow down! Be carefu-"

"I don't want it to come loose or you'll trip over it! Hmph, hah! There."

"Ahhhh-guuuuh-wooooo! This is way too tight, I'm gonna snap, can't breathe, can't make… more… comments!" Neptune said, struggling to breathe.

"Nep-Nep? …Did I do it too tight after all? Please get a hold of yourself. I'll unwrap you right n-ahhh!" Compa said trying to untie it.

"What's happening, I heard someone in pain" Ryo said before running into the room.

"I get it now, that's what you meant when you get them tangled." Ryo said that as if figuring out a puzzle.

"It's tighter now! You're just tangling me up… Stop! Gimme scissors… gimme now! Put 'em in my hands and I'll do it myself…!" Neptune said in pain. Ryo looked around the room for a pair and gave them to her.

"I'll be outside, just tell me when you're done" He said heading back outside.

A few minutes later Compa called him in.

"Compa, since you're giving me a check-up, please don't use bandages?" He asked her.

"What do you mean by that Ryo? Also I used them all on Nep-Nep" Compa replied to him.

"I meant nothing by it, let's just hurry up with this" He said as he sat on the bed.

"Ahem. By the way, I was thinking while you were wrapping me in bondages… where am I?" She asked.

"Th-They're bandages! We're in the Central City of Planeptune." She said until Ryo interrupted.

"Can you check me now?" He asked her.

"Oh, sorry for the wait" She replied to him.

"So, what do I have to do?" He asked.

"You're… um… going to have to take off your clothes" Compa said struggling to get the words out.

"Sure, gimme a sec" He said before taking his shirt off. Neptune was staring while Compa was looking away.

"Compa, there's no point in being a doctor if you're going to be shy looking at a guy" He told her revealing his upper body.

"Ryo, what are those?" Compa asked staring at his body filled with cuts and scars everywhere.

"Ryo, how come you got so many more scratches than me?" Neptune asked.

"Don't ask how, I got these a long time ago" Ryo told them.

"What do you mean don't ask how, I wanna know" Neptune said interested in how he got them.

"All I'll tell you is that I fought in the past, that's all, now could you stop asking?" He asked her.

"Fine, I'll stop, but you gotta tell me one of these days Ryo" Neptune told him.

"Fine, anyway, Compa could you hurry this up?" He asked her.

"Oh, okay" She said giving him a visual inspection.

"You're fine Ryo, all you have are a few bruises here and there, and they'll heal over time" She said.

"Oh, good then" he said as he put his shirt back on.

"Are you gonna tell us what's with those cuts on your body Ryo?" Neptune asked.

"No, now stop asking, anyway, Compa where are we?" He asked her while distracting Neptune from her question.

"As I said, we're in the central city of Planeptune" Compa replied to him.

"Planep… tune? Hmm, okay. I remember someone mentioning the world below?" Neptune said trying to remember.

"Yes, that's absolutely correct. This is one of the major landmasses beneath Celestia." Compa said.

"Landmasses, so you mean we're on a floating island?" Ryo asked.

"Yes, we're on the landmass of Planeptune" Compa responded to him.

"One of the landmasses? So there are several?" Neptune asked.

"Why, yes. There are four major landmasses floating around. Sometimes they come close to one another and drift away. Remember?" Compa explained.

"There are four gigantic floating chunks of rock flying around, is that right?" Ryo asked.

"Yes it is" She replied to him.

"Nope, not at all. Planeptune? Landmasses? Rings no bells for me." Neptune said without hesitation.

"Well that was a quick answer, are you lying or are you actually telling the truth?" Ryo asked

"How rude, I'm not lying" She answered him.

"Maybe you're suffering from amnesia. I've never seen a case in person. How original! Maybe you bumped your head…" Compa said staring

"Isn't there medication or something for that?" Neptune asked.

"I don't think there is medicine for it, Compa, is there actually medicine for amnesia?" Ryo asked.

"No, not for amnesia. It's usually a temporary thing. I'm sure you'll begin to recall things eventually." Compa replied to the two.

"My Grandpa always said. 'Fancy may kill or cure!' Get some sleep, take it easy, and you'll be better in no time"

"Isn't that for a cold though, are you sure those words are correct?" Ryo asked.

"Grandpa is always right" Compa replied to him.

"… Get some sleep? I feel like someone asked me to do something while I was unconscious." Neptune said remembering something.

"Yeah, someone was crying out for help… in my dream!"

"In your dream? Then it's not real." Compa told her.

"Oh, you never know. It was so weird. I betcha someone far away was like pa-choo and sent me a telepathic message, y'know?"

"If you say it like that, no one is going to believe you" Ryo said to her.

"It's possible. Actually, many places, Planeptune included, are being threatened by more and more monsters lately."

"One person here believes me" Neptune told him.

"I can see that" He said with a hand to his face.

"The military powers failed to keep them from appearing. We can only defend ourselves and keep them at bay now."

"How strong are these things if they can overpower the military?" Ryo asked.

"They're strong enough for the military to be pushed back" Compa replied to him.

"Then… there must be a boss generating all these monsters somewhere! I bet my mission is to go defeat that boss and save the world!" Neptune said with passion.

"Neptune, do you even know where these are and if you don't do you know how to find them?" He asked her.

"I dunno, Compa do you know?" Neptune asked as Ryo felt stupid for taking her seriously.

"The easiest way to find dungeons is by finding dunglemaps. Nep-Nep might be right about a boss, but nobody has seen or heard anything like that. How will you find it? This is irrational, dangerous, and absolutely impossible!" Compa told the two.

"That's because people have been getting eaten by monsters in a gruesome way or they're too scared to come out" Ryo told her being smart.

"You're right, but it's still impossible and dangerous." Compa replied with fear of fighting monsters.

"Nobody's gonna beat the boss if we just sit here. Someone's gotta take initiative, y'know and that someone is gonna be me and Ryo" Neptune said fearlessly.

"Wait, why do I have to help?" Ryo asked.

"Well too bad so sad, you're helping no matter what. Plus, I can't ignore this once I've noticed it. Haven't you heard strike while the irons hot!" Neptune said with enthusiasm.

"Yes, I believe Grandpa did have a saying like that. Yes, that's right. I wanted to be a nurse to save people. So why would I save the injured, but not those being threatened by monsters? How impolite of me!"

"Nep-Nep, Ryo, I'm not the strongest, but I'll help. Three is better than two!" She said with as much enthusiasm as Neptune.

"You will? Don'tcha have school? You're not in the middle of summer vacation of or anything, right?" Neptune asked.

"You got a good point there, for you that's amazing" Ryo told her.

"Ahhh thanks Ryo… Wait did you just compliment me or insult me?" She asked while puffing up her cheeks.

"Depends on how you look at it" He replied back to her.

"Thanks then" Neptune said happily not realizing that he was making fun of her.

"No we don't have classes because the city's population has been declining due to monsters eating people. Students are leaving school out of fear, so it's closed down for now. Classes are suspended until further notice"

"Oh, that sucks, but that means you can camp out right? Goodie! Let's go and find the dungeon where the boss is waiting!" Neptune said excitedly.

"Stop right there Neptune, just because there's still light out doesn't mean you can just charge into a dungeon and get yourself killed, let's eat first and then you can go into a dungeon."

"Oh, alright fine, for now put some food in my mouth." Neptune said.

"You two wait here, I'll go and make some lunch" Compa said as she went to the kitchen.

"While we're waiting, Neptune, do you have any knowledge or skills in battle?" Ryo asked her.

"I dunno" She answered quickly.

"That's helpful, do you know how to use a weapon of any kind?" He asked before Compa came in with a wooden sword in bad condition, the red blade and a red jacket.

Neptune snatched the red sword from her hands and asked "Compa can I use this as my weapon?"

"No, you can't it's my weapon, you're going to have to stick to the wooden one" he said as he took the sword from her hands.

"I forgot to give you back your jacket" Compa said while handing it over.

"Oh, well why did you take it off me on the first place?" Ryo asked.

"It was dirty so I cleaned it" Compa answered him.

"Oh, thanks, anyway Neptune, no you cannot use my sword, use the wooden one" He told her as he put his jacket on a chair and the sword beside him.

Neptune then took the wooden sword reluctantly said "Fine, I'll use this sword"

"Compa, since you're still standing here, does it mean that food is ready?" He asked her.

"Oh no, I forgot about that" She said before running back to the kitchen.

Neptune was staring at the red sword still sheathed at Ryo's side, fascinated by the mere sight of it.

"Hey Neptune, do you want to use this sword?" He asked her.

"Can I really?" She asked with a sparkle in her eye.

"No, I was joking, it's my sword" He replied back to her.

"Oh, you tricked me, why would you do such a thing?" She asked.

"I didn't think you would go for it" he said as Compa came in with the food serving it to them.

"Oh, thank you, this looks great" He said before eating. Neptune did the same thing except that she ate incredibly quickly.

After thirty minutes of eating, with Ryo and Compa waiting for Neptune to finish for twenty minutes and Compa cleaning up Neptune's mess for ten minutes they were finally done.

"Neptune, while Compa's cleaning I have a question for you" He told her.

"If it's a trick I won't fall for it again" She said proudly.

"I'm pretty sure you will fall for it in the near future, but what the question I'm asking is how did you eat all of that food?" He asked her.

"What do you mean in the near future, do you plan to trick me in the future, you fiend!" She yelled to him.

"Um… Just answer the question, how did you eat all of that food, the amount you ate was about twice the amount of your body" He told her avoiding the question.

"Oh, I was hungry and it tasted good" She said, forgetting about it.

"That's it, you were hungry and that was what compelled you to eat massive amounts of food in one sitting?" He asked her.

"Yep"

"Your practically a black hole then aren't you" He told her, making fun of her.

"What's a black hole?" She asked.

"Oh, it's just something that consumes without limit, so you" He said pointing at her.

"Oh, thanks Ryo"

"I can't believe you fell for it" Ryo said with a small smile.

"Wait! What do you mean fall for it, did you just do it again, does that mean that wasn't a compliment?" She asked him.

"No, it wasn't a compliment"

She was stunned by this and then said "Why would you do something like that and also I'm not something that consumes without limit, I stopped eating"

"I did it for fun and you stopped eating after twenty minutes of shoving your face after I asked you when you would be done"

She had no comebacks for that and was sitting there trying to think of one.

Compa came back from cleaning the mess and Ryo asked "Are you finished already; I thought it would take longer"

"Oh, there wasn't that much to clean Ryo" She told him.

"There wasn't that much you say, from what I remember there was a small mountain of plates and bowls" Ryo told her.

"Really, there was that much to clean?" She asked.

"Yeah there was, for now we need to find a dungeon, Compa, could you find that please?" He asked her.

"Okay" She said as she went to a computer close to them.

"I didn't even notice that was there, Neptune are you still thinking about what I said?" He asked her.

She was immersed in thinking until Ryo told her "You can stop thinking about that you know"

"Fine, but you better not do it again Ryo, I'm watching you"

"No promises" He replied back to her.

Compa asked "Ryo, are you a monster hunter?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"I wanted to know why you have a sword" She answered.

"Yeah Ryo, why do you have a sword and what are those symbols on the back of your jacket?" Neptune asked.

"I have a sword for self-defence and these symbols on my jacket are nothing, they're just there, nothing else" He answered the two.

"Compa have you found a dungeon for us to go to?" Ryo asked her.

"Yes I did, do you want to go now?" She asked the two of them.

"Yep" Neptune answered.

"Well we got nothing better to do right now, let's go, Compa lead the way" Ryo told her.

"Okay" Compa replied to him.

With that they were prepared to go their first dungeon together.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As they were about to head to the dungeon Ryo put on his jacket which fit perfectly and the sword on his back.

"Ohhhh, you look so cool Ryo" Neptune says.

"Thanks, now let's get going, Compa lead the way please" He says to them.

"Okay, follow me" She says gesturing for them to follow.

On their way there Ryo asks Neptune "Neptune, did you eat all of Compa's food?"

"It's fine Ryo, I didn't eat all of it" She answers.

"Okay then, Compa did she eat all of your food?" He asks her.

"Ryo it's fine, even if she does eat all of my food, more gets delivered if it runs out"

"Delivered, by who though and who's buying it all?"

"My grandpa buys it all and then it's delivered to my house"

"How rich is your grandpa anyway?" He asks her.

"Rich, what do you mean rich?" She asks.

"Nothing, how long until we get there?"

"A few minutes, we'll be arriving soon" She says.

They arrived at a circular pad on the floor which was at the edge of the landmass and Ryo assumed this was what took them to the dungeon which was on a floating island.

"Compa, so you mind answering another question?" He asks her.

"Yes, if you ever want anything just ask" She replies.

"These work just by standing on them right?"

"Yes, they can be used by anyone"

"Where are monsters found?" He asks her.

"In dungeons, where else"

"Are they found in cities or anything?"

"No, why do you ask Ryo?" She asks him.

"So the monsters go to the cities and attack, is that right?"

"Yes they do"

"You said anyone could use these, does that mean that anyone or anything could use it just by standing on it?" He asks her.

"Yes it works if you just stand on it. How did you know Ryo?" She asks him.

"Figures, let me explain something, monsters are able to attack because these connect the landmass and the floating islands which do not make sense, these islands house monsters which attack because they have some knowledge of how to use these, they use these to gain access to the landmass and attack, do you understand?" he asks her.

"Ohhh, you have a good point, I do wonder why they're like that."

He face palmed and says "No wonder people are getting eaten, do people ever think about this stuff"

Neptune cut in the conversation "Who cares why it's here, let's go already and clobber some monsters"

"Fine" He says as they got on the thing where a bright light surrounded them which made them close their eyes and they found themselves in front of a factory.

"Is this the dungeon you found using dunglemaps? Yeah, it feels like a dungeon with lots of tough monsters" Neptune says excited at the thought.

"There is no way there could be any strong monsters in here Neptune, this is our first dungeon" Ryo says to her.

"No, no strong monsters here. I searched for 'dungeons with weak monster'. We're not ready for the strong ones yet"

"Told you so" Ryo says to a disappointed Neptune.

"What? Only weaklings? Then I'll wait where I won't encounter any and you can come get me when you find the boss." Neptune says.

"Th-That's not fair! We're a party, so we're basically soul mated. Abandoning your party goes against the rules of this world. You'll get punished by the goddess!" Compa says.

"Whoa, what do you mean soul mates?" He asks in surprise.

"Soul mates Ryo, what else could I mean?" She asks him.

'Goddess? So not only are there monsters, but there's a goddess here, too" Neptune says excited as she heard Goddess.

"You forgot the fact that we're on a giant floating landmass" Ryo says to her.

"That too, so Compa what's this about a goddess?" She asks her.

"You didn't know? Silly amnesia… but forgetting even the goddess? Oh, you poor thing"

"Aside from Planeptune, there are three other" Compa says until Ryo interrupted.

"We know there are three other landmasses already" He says to her.

"Oh, okay" She says a bit disheartened.

"Each planet is protected by a goddess, and people go to the Basilicom to worship them and help govern each land" She says cheering up.

"Planet you say, not landmass?" He asks teasing her

"Oh, sorry, my tongue slipped, I mean landmass" She says while realizing her mistake.

"We have no idea where the monsters are coming from. Their power just grows and grows."

They're coming from the dungeons aren't they?" He asks her.

"Yes they are, but there are a lot of dungeons on each landmass" She says to him.

"Everyone thinks it's due to the goddess' weakening powers. Heated discussions take place every night on the Basilicom's blog".

"Basilicom? So… What kind of place is that? Is one nearby? Do they bake cookies?" Neptune asks.

"Where did you get cookies from?" He asks her with a hand to his face.

"Nep-Nep, enough banter. We should get going before the weak monsters get tired of waiting for us!" Compa says before his question was answered.

"But if all this place has got weak monsters, then I don't wanna go in, you two should be more than enough to handle it, just come back and get me once you find the boss" Neptune says sounding bored.

Ryo walked up to her "Neptune, if we do that then it would take longer, Compa would get more battler experience, you would get nothing from this and we might find treasure"

"Let's go!" She yells with a fist in the air the moment she heard him say treasure.

"That was easy" he says before they headed into the dungeon.

They head in to find a chest to Ryo's surprise.

"Yippee, a chest, I wonder what's inside? Is it gold, silver, or could it be something amazing like a strong weapon!" She says excitedly while running over to it.

"Why would any of those things even be in this chest of all things, second why is it right at the entrance and third why is it even here in the first place?" He asks her from a distance.

"Who cares about the small details Ryo, the problem is that the chest is still closed and I haven't opened it yet" She says before opening it.

She stares at what was in the chest in amazement which made the other two curious as to what was in it.

"Don't tell me this chest actually has gold in it or something" He says before getting there.

Neptune then lifted the item out of the chest as they got there which surprised Ryo in a way.

Neptune then lifted it above her head and stared at it for a little while longer.

The two looked at each other where Ryo asks "What's so great about that, it's just a wooden sword"

Compa shrugged and the two then looked back at Neptune.

"Hey Neptune, what's so great about that, it's just a wooden sword in better condition"

"Ryo, I'm surprised how you cannot be excited about this, it's a wooden sword in better condition" She says back to him.

"Fine, a normal wooden sword is amazing, but what are you gonna do about your other one?" He asks her.

"I'm gonna dual wield" She says as she took out the other one in her other hand.

"See, take a look at my skills" She says swinging them around. Compa was fascinated by this while Ryo was sighing.

She kept swinging them around until one of them hit the wall and broke.

Neptune was surprised at this and stared at the now broken sword in one hand.

"How long you gonna stare at that. You already have a good sword" He says to her.

"B-But. It's broken"

"Fine, mourn over your broken sword, I'll go ahead and take any treasure we find" He says.

"Treasure, I won't let you, it's mine! MINE I SAY!" She yells after throwing away her broken sword and running ahead.

She was running while looking back at Ryo and Compa.

"Oh, look in front of you Neptune" Ryo says before she ran face first into a wall.

Ryo was laughing his head off while Compa was rushing over to help her.

"Nep-Nep are you okay?" She asks before helping her up.

"Yeah, I'm fine" She says while rubbing her face.

"I can't believe you ran into the wall" He says while laughing.

"Hey, Ryo stop laughing, it wasn't that funny" Neptune says.

"Ryo, that's not very nice" Compa says.

"Neptune, you ran ahead and you weren't looking where you were going, can you still say it wasn't that funny?" He asks her obviously still laughing slightly.

"Yeah, b-but you said that you would take the treasure" She says back to him.

"You said it was yours so don't complain, let's get a move on, I don't want to be here all day" He says as he started walking ahead of them.

The other two were walking behind him with Neptune mad and Compa was taking a look at her face for injuries.

"Compa, I have a small question to ask" He said to her.

"Ask away Ryo" She replies to him.

"Since you're coming with us instead of staying back, do you know how to fight?" He asks.

She pulled out a giant syringe with weird coloured liquid which put the other two on high alert. It scared Ryo and Neptune was fascinated.

"I use a giant syringe Ryo, ever since the monster attacks, nurses have been trained in combat"

"That makes sense, but shouldn't you use a scalpel or something?" He asks her.

"Only fully certified doctors are allowed to use scalpels, also for this weapon all you have to do is replace the liquid inside instead of buying more"

"So you stab enemies with it and inject that strange liquid in them and um… do you also use that to heal allies?" He asks hoping for a no.

"Yes, I use this to heal allies" The moment she says that the two froze making sure in their minds that whenever they're around her they don't get injured.

"So you would use that oversized needle to heal us right?" he asks.

"Yep, I would just put this into you and inject the medicine" She responds scaring them even more.

"Let's keep going" he says

"WAIT!" Neptune yells making the two look around for monsters.

"I'm the leader of this party so I'm at the front" She says calming down Compa and pissing of Ryo.

"Stopping us for such a stupid reason, take the lead then" He says before sighing.

"Then let's go" She says with a fist in the air trying to motivate them.

They encountered three small creatures that were general slimes with the faces of dogs. Everyone drew their weapons from thin air except Ryo. He thought that was strange, but he knew that now wasn't the time.

"Hey, are these monsters?" He asks the two.

"Yes, they are" Compa responds to him.

"So the military can't kill something so pathetic" He says pointing out that sad fact.

"I'm sure the military have their reasons Ryo" Compa says back to him.

"It's a sad world where the military don't even bother to kill the weaker monsters" He says as he drew his weapon.

"Let's hurry up and kill these then. We take one out each" He says.

"Here I come you monster" Neptune rushed in slashing downwards, sideways and turned kicking it in the face, a punch and then an uppercut, killing it. Afterwards she did a peace sign after she killed it. The monster vanished into little pieces as it was killed.

Ryo questioned this, but didn't really want to question how this world worked.

Compa stood back with the syringe and shot the Dogoo until it died.

"My turn right" He says as he charged in cutting diagonally down, kicked it into the air and then jumped and cut downwards landing on the ground with the Dogoo now killed and in pieces with the blade in his right hand facing downwards.

The two stared in amazement with Neptune yelling "OMG that was the coolest thing ever!"

"Ryo, that was amazing" Compa says right after.

"How did you do that? Teach me your ways Ryo" Neptune says.

"Oh, um, it was luck" He answers her.

"There is no way that was luck, what did you do? Where'd you learn it? Where and when?" She asks hoping to find an answer.

"Let's keep going, I'm sure that there is bound to be more treasure up ahead" he says avoiding the questions.

"Alright, let's go!" She yells as she started walking.

"Okay, let's go then" He says before the two started walking as well.

They encountered a treasure chest which looked exactly the same as the one before.

Neptune opened it to find a hammer and a bell. She held them in her hands examining them, but not knowing what they do. Ryo examined them with his magic.

"Okay you two, Neptune you take the hammer while Compa you take the bell, the hammer destroys obstacles and the hammer summons monsters"

"Really, where can I test this bad boy out?" She asks looking for something to destroy.

"Just wait, we'll find something soon enough, let's keep going" He says as they kept going.

They keep going to find a fence.

"Well, that's convenient isn't it, Neptune if you would?" He asks her.

"Sir Yes sir" She says as she swung the hammer down which led the two to see her underwear.

Ryo saw something he shouldn't have and looked away with slight red on his face, Neptune then saw his face and asked "What's wrong Ryo? Why're you looking away?"

"Do you really want to know?" He asks her.

"Yep"

"Okay then, think about what you just did and think about where I'm standing" He says to her making her realize what she had done.

"PERVERT! WHY WOULD YOU LOOK, YOU CRIMINAL!" She yells to him as she smacked him. After she was holding down her hoodie trying to cover up.

"Ow, it was your fault for bending over that much, how is it my fault?" He asks her.

"YOU LOOKED, THAT'S WHY!" She yells back to him.

"You two shouldn't fight" Compa says trying to calm the two down.

"Compa's right, we're wasting time and getting off track right now, we need to get going" He says as he started walking.

Compa followed where Neptune stood there too stubborn to move.

"Neptune, if you're not going to come, then we're just going to leave you here in this dark cave by yourself" Ryo says to her.

"Ryo, what are you saying, we're not actually going to leave her here are we?" Compa asks.

"Of course not, let's just walk slowly as if we're leaving her behind, she'll follow soon enough" He says as he started walking with Compa.

After the two were some distance away, Neptune then ran after them, scared of being left behind.

"Wait, Ryo why would you try to leave me behind?" Neptune asks.

"I didn't, I knew you would follow if I said that" He responds to her.

"Compa, did you know of this?" She asks her.

She nodded which surprised Neptune.

"Even my best friend knew of this, so the two of you tricked me?" She asks.

"No, it was more like I did and I asked Compa if she could play along" He answers her which led to Neptune going on a little outrage on Ryo chasing him around in circles.

"I'm going to get you Ryo, stay still" She says as she chased him.

"Why should I stay still, also shouldn't we go and find the boss" He says while stopping.

Neptune ran into him and the two fell onto the floor.

"Dammit Neptune, I was a few metres away from you, how could you possibly run into me?" he asks as he was getting up.

Neptune was still on the floor rubbing her head.

"Come on, get up, we need to get going" He said offering her a hand to help her up. She took it and says "Thanks"

"Okay, let's go" He says getting the two to follow to a big room with a dark circle in the middle.

Neptune looked around the room to find that there was nothing there

"Oh, there's no boss monster here, let's go back" She says that sounding disappointed

"What are talking about, that circle in the middle is suspicious isn't it?" He asks as Neptune was about to run to it.

"Wait, Neptune if you just run into the middle of the room like that you're going to get yourself killed" He says to her grabbing onto her hoodie slightly choking her.

"There is no way I could die Ryo, I'm too strong to die" She says proudly.

"Keep saying that and one day you will die, for now Compa I want you to go into the middle of that circle, use the bell and run back as fast as possible"

"Um… Isn't that dangerous?" She asks.

"We're in a dungeon looking for monsters instead of avoiding them, do we really have the right to ask if it's dangerous or not?" He asks her.

"Um… you have a point there Ryo" She says as she went to the middle and rang the bell and ran back quickly. The circle opened up and something was climbing out of it.

"Holy shit, that things huge" He says.

"Ryo language" Compa says to him.

"Oh, sorry, but do you blame me, that thing just climbed out of it and is huge" He says still gawking at it.

The bottom half of the monster was spider with a big human torso and a rhino's head with a big sword that looked like a key.

'Why does that thing have a sword, it's already dangerous enough considering how big it is" Ryo says

"Ryo, stop complaining and let's kill it" She says charging in and attacking its legs which didn't do much because she had a wooden sword. This pissed it off and made it swing downwards. Neptune dodged it and went back to where the other two were.

"Okay, Compa stay here and shoot at it while Neptune and I go in and try to kill it, oh and make sure when you shoot, neither one of us is in the way" He says before charging in with Neptune.

The two were on opposite sides so this way it would only have one target. The two attacked at the same time slashing at its legs with their swords, but Ryo did more damage because Neptune only had a wooden sword. Its focus shifted to Ryo.

It swung sideways, but Ryo dodged it by ducking feeling the wind made by the swing, the key like sword just missed his head.

"Shit, that was too close for comfort, I almost lost my head" He says as Compa shot at it, it didn't do much damage, but what was worse was that Neptune was just standing there mumbling something to herself. The Guard Vermin noticed this and changed its attention to Neptune and was getting ready to attack.

"What the hell is she doing, dammit" He says as he started running towards her.

"Why is she just standing there" He says as it swung diagonally downwards. Neptune however stood there preoccupied with whatever she was doing not noticing the blade until it was too late.

Ryo charged in tackling Neptune out of the way, but had his back exposed and was now about to be hit by the monster. The edge of the blade made contact with his back which sent him flying towards the wall with a cut on his back.

He stopped himself with his feet skidding across the ground and was standing there bleeding. He had dropped his blade near where he got hit and was now defenceless.

"You'll pay for that" Neptune says before she pulls out a disk with a white light enveloping her and turned her into an older woman with dark long purple hair in twin braids with a big purple katana, she was taller than Ryo and was wearing a plug suit, had blue eyes with power symbols, her hands had a small amount of armour which made them look a bit like claws and had wings on her back with bits of armour surrounding her.

Although the Guard Vermin was still focused on Ryo, it moved towards him to deal the final blow until Neptune intervened.

"It's time to pay" Neptune says before swinging her sword once killing the thing and then disappeared. She picked something up and then went over to Ryo with Compa. "Ryo, are you okay?" Compa asks.

"Yeah, do you have any medicine with you?" he asks not fazed by the pain he felt at all.

"Ryo, are you sure you're okay?" Neptune asks with a now deeper voice, she sounded more mature and reliable.

"Here, drink this, this is called reflex" Compa says as she handed him a bottle with green liquid in it.

He drank it and could feel the pain from it going away.

"Oh, this stuff is pretty good, reflex huh" He says as he stared at the now empty bottle and the sword flew back to him.

"Nep-Nep? Is that you?" Compa asks.

Neptune changes back to her previous form.

"Are you alright Compa, you look like you've just seen a ghost" She says while waving her hand in front of Compa's face trying to snap her out of it.

After Neptune did that, Ryo and Neptune looked up as if someone called them.

"Neptune, Ryoichi, can you hear me? This is Histoire"

"We can hear you just fine" He says before sighing.

"Histy! Thanks for that awesome tutorial. What's up?" Neptune asks.

"Histy? Nep-Nep, Ryo, who're you talking to? Um… nobody is here except for you, me and Ryo" Compa asks the two.

"You can't hear her? Histy, can you talk to Compa too?" Neptune asks.

"I apologize, but at this time you two are the only ones I can speak with"

"Please pass my words to your friend when I am through. Also, I do not think I am comfortable with the name Histy"

"Histoire, she's not gonna stop calling you that" Ryo says to her.

"Oh, I see" Histoire sighs after he said that.

"Sorry Compa, I'll just tell you what she says later. Anyway, Histy, I found something weird and shiny just now!"

"Shiny you say, well anyway, Compa I'll try to explain things to you too, the explanation Neptune will give will be too hard to understand" Ryo says to her, comforting her.

"You refer to the Key Fragment I assume. That is an important item needed to release me from this seal"

"Seal? Where you at, anyway?" Neptune asks.

"I am uncertain. Somebody has locked me away somewhere in this world"

"Histoire, since you say sealed and not imprisoned, I assume you're not in jail cell of some sort, am I correct?" Ryo asks.

"Yes, unfortunately, I have been sealed in a different way than what people would think"

"Please, please… release this seal and save me!" She pleaded to the two.

"Okay then, what will we need to do?" Ryo asks.

"In each land, you will find a key fragment. First, please collect these items."

"Four Key Fragments? If I do this fetch quest, I can save you, right? So where are they?" Neptune asks.

"Unfortunately, I have little information on that. I only know there is one on each landmass. You have collected one already"

"That's just great, the only clue we have right now is that they're on each landmass, thanks this will make our search so much easier" He says sarcastically.

"Ryo, that's a bit mean to say to Histy" Neptune says to him.

"Sorry, I just almost died and am sort of stressed out, Histoire please keep going"

"Each piece is guarded by a string adversary. Find the fragments by defeating these foes."

"So, I get that I hafta save you, but should I really do all this for someone I don't even know?" Neptune asks.

"It is only natural to feel that way. Others did not trust me, either"

Nep- Nep, don't you remember why we came out here in the first place, we came here to stop monsters from attacking people to save them" Compa says to her.

"Neptune, Compa has a point and also what would have happened if Compa had thought that way, she wouldn't have bothered to try and help us" He told her.

"However you are my last and only hope. Please do this and save me!" She pleaded

"Okay fine, I guess I could help, but, Hmm, it's tough for me to say no, but finding all these thingies sounds like a real bore-chore"

"Are you concerned? There is no need. I am sure you can do this" Histoire says.

"No, I mean, I'm gonna do all this stuff just to save one person… can't it be like to save the whole world?" Neptune asked.

"How honest. As I said, I am the world's everything and the world is my everything. Saving me is tantamount to saving the world"

"Huh? Really? Oh, well, okay then! Don't stop there. Pump me up some more!"

"Aren't you happy yet, you got a reason to save someone's life" He says before sighing.

"I am, but Histy can still pump me up some more, can't she"

"By defeating the various monsters in order to obtain the pieces, you will save countless lives all across the world."

"Killing two birds with one stone, I like it! Anything else to boost my drive?"

"Histoire, could you stop for a second?" He asks her.

"Yes what is it Ryoichi?" She asks him.

"You should stop pumping her up, she's gonna end up with a big head at this rate"

"Oh, how dare you Ryo. My head isn't big now nor will it ever be" She says while putting her hands on her head.

"Relax I'm joking, but your head is pretty big"

"Ryo you meanie, why would you say that" She says while pouting

Histoire giggled a bit as she heard this "I wish I could ass one million credits to your savings… but that is a little beyond my control"

"Enjoying yourself Histoire?" He asks her

"Yes I am as a matter of fact, thank you for helping me" She says.

"It's no problem"

"That's so much! I better get my stomp on!" Neptune says excitedly.

"… Nep-Nep, Ryo, why are you so excited? I can't hear anything… I don't hear this person's voice…" Compa says while on the verge of crying.

"What are you three talking about? I… I want to be included, too… Nep-Nep…" She was about to cry while saying that.

"Oops, I'm sorry, Compa! Let's go have something to eat and I'll talk to you about it for hours and hours and hours!" Neptune replies to her, stopping her from crying.

"But, Compa, Histy's voice will never reach a cry-baby. C'mon, buck up, kiddo"

"… Fine. I understand" Compa says, rubbing her now slightly red eyes.

"Neptune, how could you possibly stretch a conversation we've had for a few minutes to hours?" Ryo asks.

"Don't worry about the small details Ryo" Neptune says.

"Alright fine, today has been a long day, let's go back" He says with the two agreeing.

They headed back with Ryo now tired and the other two still energized. They had dinner where Ryo and Neptune explained to Compa the conversation with Histoire.

Afterwards "Alright, I'm gonna hit the hay, see you two tomorrow morning" He says after yawning.

"Good night Ryo" Compa says.

"Don't let the bed bugs bite" Neptune says.

"Yeah, well there's one right near me" He says before going to bed.

"What'd you say?" Neptune asks, but that question couldn't be answered as Ryo went to bed, unable to hear the two talking into the night.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As he slept he dreamed. He stood there surprised at what he saw. He saw all of his friends that had been killed.

"Are you all alive?" He asked but got no response from their emotionless faces.

"Hey, why aren't you answering?" He asked them, but got the same response, all he got was an empty stare.

He saw a demon walk up to them with a dagger in hand. He tried to run towards it to stop it but no matter how much he ran he couldn't get closer or farther away from them.

"HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" He yelled to the demon. The demon replied with an evil smirk. Ryo knew what he was going to do.

"WAIT, DON'T!" He yelled before the demon stabbed one of them, blood covered the dagger, dripping from it.

He stared at his now bleeding friend, now on the floor from being stabbed.

"Why didn't you fight back?" He asked surprised by that fact. More demons showed up with weapons in hand, one for each friend, each holding a different kind of weapon.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" He yelled at them as he was forced to watch each friend fall, he couldn't look away and each one was killed differently. The moment the last one fell, his world turned black, he felt nothing, all he felt was the sadness he felt back then, after the battle.

"Of course, this is a dream, they were already dead from the beginning" He said trying to fool himself into believing that, but it didn't work for he still felt the pain in his chest from watching his friends fall.

"Are you angry?" A voice asked. Ryo didn't answer, but stood there motionless.

A light appeared before a figure, it looked exactly like the demon lord he had killed.

"YOU, WHY ARE YOU HERE?" He yelled in anger.

"Me, demons also have magic as well you know, I transferred my mind here when you stabbed me"

"GET OUT THEN!' He yelled back.

"Why should I, I am here to make you realize what you have done"

"Realize what I've done, what do you mean?" He asked still angry.

"Whenever you saw a demon, you killed them on sight whether they had monsters around or not those demons you killed also had friends and family waiting for them" The demon lord told him.

Ryo stood there silent, listening to his every word and finding them hard to believe yet knows at the same time the words he was spouting were the harsh truth.

"In the mind of humans, monsters and demons were all the same, not once did humans think that demons were intelligent in any way, you saw us as monsters" He said.

"If that's the case then I'm sorry for everything I've done, I know an apology won't fix anything, but right now it's all I can do" Ryo apologized after he stayed quiet for a few seconds.

"Good, you're actually sorry for what you've done, why is that?" He asked.

"What do you mean why, you've just told me that the demons I had been fighting were just like us, they had intelligence, and so they must have had emotions as well and that means they also grieved the loss of life" Ryo answered.

"Most people wouldn't even bother to try to understand their enemies" He replied.

"What about you, you seem so different than when I met you, why did you say all of those sick things to me?" He asked him.

"You think I had a choice, all I was in that place was a puppet, forced into that position because I had the most magical power."

"Do you have any proof to make me believe you?" Ryo asked

"Because I have some good news for you" He replied.

"Good news? What kind of good news would make me believe you?" Ryo asked.

"Not everyone in Planeptune is dead"

"What do you mean not everyone died?" He asked.

"I will tell you that next time, for now it's time to wake up" The demon lord said before he woke up.

The next morning, Ryo found himself bring woken up by Compa.

"Good morning Ryo, breakfast is ready" She told him.

"Is it morning already?" He asked with a blank look, but didn't notice that he had a tear fall down his cheek.

"Ryo, are you okay? You're crying" She asked him.

"Oh, this, I just had a nightmare, nothing new" He said wiping it off and remembering the dream he had.

"Let's have breakfast then" He said thinking about whether that dream was the truth or not.

"I made breakfast, but Nep-Nep isn't awake yet, I tried and she asked for five more minutes"

"You go ahead to breakfast, I'm going to wake Neptune up, I just gotta find a stick" He said heading outside.

"Ryo, why do you need a stick for?" Compa asked him.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not gonna hit Neptune with it, I'll use it to wake her up" He said before heading outside to find a stick at arm's length.

"Okay this should be good, time to wake her up" He said before heading back inside to Neptune's room.

She was still asleep murmuring about food. He got the stick and stayed back and poked her with it.

She tried to take it but Ryo pulled it back and poked her again.

"Stop it, give me five more"

"Seconds right?" He asked.

"Hours" She replied still asleep and somehow responding.

"That's way too long, I'm going to keep poking you if you don't wake up" He said while poking her face.

She kept trying to take the stick away from him, but he just kept poking her.

"Stop it" Neptune said half asleep.

"I'll stop the moment you get up" He said while moving the stick to her face and then poking her there.

"Fine, I'll get up, what'd you want?" She asked still half asleep.

"Breakfast is ready and it's going to get cold if you don't hurry up" The moment Neptune heard this she rushed out the door and to breakfast.

Ryo made his way to breakfast to find that Neptune was already stuffing her face with massive amounts of food.

"I can see that Neptune is already stuffing her face" Ryo said, but with all of the food going into Neptune's mouth, she was too focused on filling up her endless stomach.

"Which dungeon we going to today?" He asked Compa.

"Compa, Ryo, why would we go to another dungeon, we already gathered the fragment from Planeptune. Let's not waste any time and mosey to the next landmass!" Neptune said when she final finished stuffing her face.

"No need to rush. This place is still threatened by monsters. We can't just leave the townspeople like this." Compa replied to her.

"Well… fine… let's go clobber some monsters." Neptune said reluctantly

"But the problem is where to start, on this landmass there should be a lot of dungeons, so which one to go to is the question" Ryo asked.

"There has been a rumour about a sandworm attacking people" Compa said.

"Compa, I have a small question, is this sandworm in a dungeon by any chance?" Ryo asked

"Yes it is"

"Why are people stupid enough to wander into dungeons, of course they're going to get attacked if they go in here"

"Who cares why people go into them, let's just kill the thing"

"Fine, Compa show us the way please"

"Okay, follow me"

As they head to the dungeon, Ryo thinks about the dream and wondered if what the demon lord said was true.

They found the dungeon and it was a cave, they headed inside.

"Compa, what do you know about the other landmasses?" Ryo asked.

"I don't know much, all I know is that Lastation is the rival of Planeptune in technology and the names of the other landmasses"

"Oh, too bad, I would've liked to know more about the other landmasses before, but we'll just find out for ourselves"

"Bad guys hole up in caves, but I wonder if it's kinda like where they do the thing and make babies. Sorry to intrude…" Neptune said making Ryo uncomfortable.

"NEPTUNE! Why would you say that, just keep it to yourself" Ryo said with a hand to his face.

"Ryo are you alright?" Compa asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I've had a really bad headache for a while now" Ryo said while looking at Neptune.

"Ryo, why are you looking at me when you say that? Are you implying that I'm giving you a headache?" Neptune asked slightly mad.

"I never said that, Compa, for now we need to know where the sandworm is, do you know where?" He asked her avoiding the question.

"No, I don't" Compa responded to him.

"For now, Compa, Ryo, its dark, so watch your step. You never know when you'll h-aghh!" Neptune yelled as she fell.

"Maybe you should take your own advice Neptune instead of doing the complete opposite" He said catching her.

"Nep-Nep? Are you okay? You should be careful too, or you might fall onto some spikes and game over…" Compa said.

"No, I ran into something. Wait, no again, something ran into me!" Neptune yelled.

"Are you alright Neptune? For now we need to know what ran into you"

"Yeah, I'm fine, now let me go!" She yelled.

"No it was more like you wouldn't use your feet, anyway what was that?" He asked them as he looked at the figure on the floor.

It was a girl the same age and height as Neptune and Compa, had green eyes, a leafy bow tied up the left side of her long brown hair into a ponytail. She was wearing a long sleeved blue jacket which was obviously a size or two big for her over a black one piece and there was a pink cell phone on the floor next to her.

"Ow… watch it, girl. This isn't the place for kindergarteners to have recess!" The girl said with a hand on the back of her head.

"Kindergarteners? Look who's talking. Who're you? Do you live in this icky cave?" Neptune asked her.

"Do I look like a ragged bum to you? I'm IF. I'm here to eliminate the monsters, as requested by the Basilicom. Who're YOU?" IF asked them.

"We're here because people are in danger. So, we're here for the same reason. My name is Neptune, this is Ryo and this is Compa."

"Hi, I'm Ryoichi Osamu, nice to meet you"

"H-Hello. I enjoy arts and crafts, and I'm good at math. I know I don't look it, but it's something I'm quite proud of" Compa said nervously.

"Then Compa, you are now in charge of our item inventory and accounting. Anyway, why not help us conquer this dungeon?"

"What? Well, I guess the ore help I get the easier it'll be for me. Fine. We'll team up, but know you're joining me!" IF told them.

"Oh, you'll do it? I'm glad I asked, Compa, Iffy said she'll join our party!" Neptune said with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Whatever. Don't call me Iffy. That's not my name." IF replied to her, annoyed at the nickname.

"IF, they're not gonna stop calling you that" Ryo said.

"How would you know that?" She asked him.

"Just wait until your name is called"

"Now we really look like a party! We'll be together forever. It's our pleasure to have you with us" Compa said happily.

"Yeah, yeah, okay. Wait, what? Forever? No, just for now. This dungeon"

"Bzzzt! We're already a party, so you can't get away from us, even if you try" Neptune said quickly.

"Abandoning your party is against the rules of this world, You got that, missy?"

"U'Um, no, but… It doesn't matter"

"Even though the rules are weird" He said right after.

"No they aren't" Compa replied to him.

"They are to me, anyway, it's good to have you with us IF and the scariest thing is that the two of them are actually serious" Ryo said.

"Yeah, good to be here" IF said after sighing.

"Ryo, what do you mean that it's scary that we're serious?" Neptune asked him.

"Oh, if you don't understand then it's nothing" He said while laughing a bit.

"Let's keep going" He said as he started walking.

After a few steps Ryo suddenly yelled "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!" This action scared the party.

"What is it Ryo?" The three asked him.

"What's that on the ceiling? They're all pointy" Ryo asked.

"Oh, what are they?" Neptune asked intrigued by what they were.

"You yelled that out because you didn't know what those are" IF said before sighing.

"Those are" As Compa was about to explain IF cut in.

"Who cares, let's just go already, I mean he did just scare us all"

"And it was funny" Ryo added with a smile

"Is that why you did it?" IF asked him.

"Partially yes and I wanted to know what those are, but that can wait" Ryo said as Neptune was still staring at the ceiling, at the pointy rocks pointing downwards.

"Neptune, I know they're fascinating and all, but we gotta get going" He told her as he pulled on her hoodie.

"Let go, I'm not a kid" She said as Ryo let go.

"Now, let's go" He said going ahead to find a big golem like thing holding a club.

"What is that thing?" Ryo asked.

"It's a Jaki Ryo, it's a monster" Compa answered him.

"Thanks, but that wasn't what I meant, IF what weapon do you use?" He asked her.

"I use these" She responded as she brings out her weapon.

IF used a weapon called Qatar's, they were on the end of her arm covering the end and using it as a blade with a gun installed in each.

"Nice, anyway, who isn't able to use long ranged attacks instead of me?" He asked them.

Neptune was searching as if looking for something; she then pulled out a gun out of thin air. This reminded Ryo to ask about that later.

"Where'd you keep that?" He asked her.

"I dunno"

"How long have you had it?"

She shrugged to his question.

"You know, I've been thinking about something"

"What is it Ryo?" Compa asked him.

"Why hasn't it tried to kill us yet?" He asked them.

"Who cares, monsters don't attack unless provoked, that means if they hear you talk smack about them, you piss them off or they see you" IF explained to him.

"Thanks for the advice" He said as he looked above the Jaki to find a stalactite, it's those pointy rocks on the ceilings of caves for those that do not know.

"Neptune, pass your gun for a sec" He said to her.

"Why do you need it?" She asked.

"I'm going to try to kill it in one shot, if that doesn't work then those confident in close combat can go in for the kill, now pass the gun" He said to her.

"Fine, but take good care of it" She said as if parting with something important.

"You're gonna get it back in a few seconds if this works" He responded to her.

He stared at it figuring out how it works.

"What Ryo, don't you know how to use these" IF said to him teasing him.

"Yeah, I know I'm just not used to these things; I just pull on the trigger to fire right?" He asked them.

They nodded as a response to his stupidity on how to fire a gun.

"Just watch and enjoy the show" He told them as he aimed it at the stalactite above the Jaki. He shot a few times at the base of it; the thing was pretty big so it took a few shots before a crack appeared.

"Watch your heads" He told them before it fell landing on the Jaki, it ended up killing it.

"That was amazing Ryo, can I do that?" Neptune asked him.

"Yeah, you can, just look for a big pointy rock at the ceiling, get a monster under it and start shooting at the rock until it falls"

"Oh, really" She said excited at the thought of doing it.

"Well, that was easy, here you can have your gun back now" He said as he returned the gun.

"Nice, where'd you learn that?" IF asked him.

"I didn't, I just couldn't be bothered killing the thing right now"

"Oh really, so you improvised" IF said to him.

"Yeah, I did, but let's get a move on" He told them as the group moved forward with Compa staying back picking something up. Ryo noticed this and went back to her.

"Compa, what are you doing?" He questioned her.

"I'm picking up the reflex" She responded.

"Um, okay, where'd it come from?" He asked.

"It came from the monster, sometimes if you defeat monsters they drop items" She explained to him.

"Okay, I don't understand, but let's get a move on" He told them before they started walking.

"Alright, let's go" Neptune said with enthusiasm and a gun in her hand and searching for monsters to crush.

"Neptune, do you really want to do that?" He asked her.

"Do what Ryo?' She responded back with a twinkle in her eye.

"I meant do you really want to do what I just did?" He asked her.

"Yep, now where's a monster I can crush using the powers of nature" She said excited.

"Yeah, yeah, now take the lead Neptune" He told her.

"Okay, follow me!" She excitedly said with a fist in the air.

They walked for a while to find another Jaki; Neptune looked above and was disappointed that she couldn't try that method.

"Let's just kill it the old fashion way, we go up and constantly hit it until it dies" He told her.

"Let's go!" Neptune yelled to the group.

"Yeah, whatever" IF said not caring.

"I'll try my best" Compa said.

"Okay, considering that Neptune, IF and I have close combat weapons, us three go in and keep trying to kill it, where the moment it attacks we back off and whoever has a gun of some sort will shoot it, you guys understand?" He asked them.

"Yep, now let's go already" Neptune said pulling out her wooden sword.

"Let's go already" IF said.

"Fine, come on then" He said as he ran straight to it with blade in hand.

"HEY, UGLY" He yelled to it grabbing its attention.

"Good work attracting its attention Ryo, we'll kill it while you distract it" IF said while moving towards it.

"Take this!" Neptune yelled while she hit it with her wooden sword. It wasn't really doing much; its attention was focused on Ryo. IF was attacking its sides with her weapons.

"Why is it still focused on me?" Ryo asked while running away.

"You're the one who called it ugly, I think it's angry at you" IF yelled to him.

"Monsters can understand language?" Ryo asked her surprised.

"They can understand insults at least" IF answered him.

"That's just great" Ryo said as he moved towards it. The three surrounded it attacking each of its sides. Ryo would keep its attention while IF and Neptune damaged it.

Ryo went in after it swung sideways making IF and Neptune back off. He jumped up dodging the attack and swinging down with his sword cutting it in half.

"It finally died" Ryo said annoyed from how long it took.

"Don't complain, there's going to be more monsters up ahead, we need to keep moving" IF told him as she went ahead.

"Ryo, how is it that I couldn't kill it where you did?" Neptune asked him.

"That's because you've got a wooden sword instead of a real one" He responded to her.

"Then, let me borrow yours" Neptune said hoping to get his sword.

"We'll buy you one later, for now let's catch up to IF, we don't want to be left here" He told her as they caught up to IF.

They were walking for a few minutes to see the sandworm in a room, just sitting there. It was tall enough to be bigger than Ryo, had a circular mouth which devoured its victims.

"There it is, let's kill it!" Neptune yelled out as she was about to run towards it.

"Stop Neptune, don't rush in by yourself" Ryo said, grabbing onto her arm.

"Why can't I?" Neptune asked him.

"You ask why, then transform Neptune" Ryo ordered her.

"Do I have to?" Neptune asked him.

"Yes, now do it" Ryo answered her.

"Ryo, what do you mean when you tell her to transform?" IF asked them with a confused look.

"Just watch" He told her

A light enveloped her transforming her into her other form. IF was speechless at the sight of this.

"IF, this is what I meant, she becomes stronger and a lot easier to reason with when she transforms" He explained to her.

"Are you okay Iffy?" Neptune asked her while waving her hand in front of her face.

"Give her a few seconds to process the information" Ryo said amused by her reaction

"Okay, so let me get this straight, Neptune here is able to transform" IF said.

"Neptune, is there any other names for that transformation?" Ryo asked.

"Yes there is, it's called HDD, otherwise Hard Drive Divinity" Neptune explained to them.

"So, you okay there, do you need a few minutes or something?" Ryo asked.

"Just give me a sec" She said that while calming down.

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" IF asked them.

"I don't know, it just sort of slipped my mind actually" Ryo replied

"Slipped your mind huh, anyway, how are we going to kill the sandworm over there?" IF asked them.

"You know, it's weird how it hasn't noticed us yet" Ryo said to them, pointing that out.

"Remember what I said, monsters don't attack unless provoked or they see you. Do you plan on doing the same thing like what you did with the Jaki?" IF asked him, hoping he does the same thing.

"No way, I don't want that thing chasing me, how about you three?" He asked them.

"No thanks, I like living" IF responded to him. Compa however was too scared at the thought of this.

"Ryo, I'm sure you're more than capable of doing this yourself" Neptune told him.

"Fine, I'll piss it off and you three attack" He said to the three reluctantly before sighing. He started walking towards it.

It didn't notice the fact that he was walking towards it until he picked up a rock and threw it, it hit the sandworm and it finally noticed them. He took out his sword with Neptune and IF at his sides and Compa at the back.

It looked at them wondering which one threw the rock. It decided to attack IF first. It charged at her, mouth first hoping to devour her. She moved to the side dodging it, it changed its target to Ryo, using the same attack.

He ducked under it while holding his blade upwards; it made a small cut in it. It was now completely focused on him because he was the first to hurt it. The moment it landed it went back to attack him, but Neptune went and swung her sword causing more damage and making it writhe in pain.

Neptune moved away from the group, making it follow her to another side of the room, Compa and IF were shooting at it constantly as it was following her. Neptune stopped to attack; she swung down with her purple katana damaging it at the same time as Ryo who also attacked at the same time.

It was obviously in pain and then dug into the ground, nowhere to be seen and was now underground. The party searched for it, but was nowhere to be found. The party was all separated from each other with the closest ones being Neptune and Ryo.

The ground shook slightly where Compa seemed to be the most troubled by it. Ryo knew what was going to happen.

"Shit, everyone protect Compa!" He yelled out as they moved towards her.

They were too late, the sandworm popped up a few metres away from Compa, and then launched itself towards her, and Compa was frozen in fear, legs not willing to move. None of them could make it fast enough. Ryo had his blade behind his back and looked as if he was going to throw it. The blade was on fire behind his back, IF and Neptune were surprised by this, but were more worried about Compa at the moment.

As he threw it, the fire covered the whole blade; it burned brightly as it left his hand. It was spinning as it flew towards the sandworm.

It was spinning quickly, flying towards the two, this moment felt like an eternity to all of them, IF and Neptune were scared of the outcome, Compa was scared of dying and Ryo was afraid that it might not make it in time.

The sandworm was mere inches away from Compa, before it touched her; the sandworm was impaled by the blade in that single moment. The sandworm was stuck in a wall with the blade going straight through and was still on fire, burning the sandworm and making it feel pain.

"Now die" Ryo said that as he holds out his hand.

The sandworm lit up, the entire sandworm was on fire, and it burnt until nothing but ashes on the ground and the sword now stuck in the wall, the fire had disappeared. The three rushed over to Compa to see if she was alright.

"Compa, are you okay?" IF asked her.

"Have you been hurt anywhere?" Neptune asked.

"That was close, that thing was pretty smart to attack Compa" Ryo said before pulling out his sword and putting it back.

Compa stood there speechless at the situation she had just experienced. She fainted and fell on the floor with Neptune catching her.

"Did she just faint?" Ryo asked, surprised by her action.

"Yeah, she did, but can you blame her" IF said to him.

"Guess you're right, you two alright?" He asked the two.

"We're both fine for now" IF answered him.

"Ryo, could you carry her?" Neptune asked

"Why can't you?" He asked her.

"I feel tired" She said handing Compa over before changing back.

He was now carrying her in his arms

"Ryo, what was that?" IF asked.

"Yeah Ryo, how did you do that?" Neptune asked.

"For now let's get out of here, it's too dangerous right now" He told them as he headed out with the other two.

While they were walking Neptune asked "Could you tell us what that was?"

"What do you mean by that?" He asked her.

"Ryo, you know what she means by that" IF told him.

"Fine, I'll tell you after we get out and when she's awake" He said with Compa in his arms.

"She looks so comfortable" IF said while looking at her.

"She does" Ryo said while looking at her.

They all stopped to look at the sleeping Compa.

"Did she faint because of me?" Ryo asked.

The two nodded to his question as if it didn't need to be answered.

"She fainted after you threw your sword while looking really cool" Neptune said to them.

"Did you know it would hit the sandworm?" IF asked him.

"Yeah I did, why are we even stopping, we need to keep moving" He said as he started walking again.

"How in the world are you even able to aim?" IF asked him.

"I don't know, it's like throwing a rock, except with a sword" He answered her.

"Can you show it to me Ryo?" Neptune asked as she was excited at what she saw.

Compa was starting to wake up and yawned and was starting to open her eyes.

"Good morning, have a nice nap?" He asked her jokingly.

"Yes I did" She replied not realizing the situation.

"I can't believe she answered" IF said.

"Compa are you okay now?" Neptune asked her, worried about her.

"Yes I am" Compa answered her.

"Can you stand?" Ryo asked.

She finally noticed what was happening around her, her face was slightly red because she was in his arms.

"Yes I can" She answered him with Ryo putting her down.

"Why was I in Ryo's arms?" Compa asked the group.

"Don't you remember that you were attacked by the sandworm" IF told her.

"It came out of the ground and wanted to eat you" Neptune said bluntly.

"Do you remember now?" Ryo asked.

She thought for a moment before fear struck her face at the thought of remembering.

"You okay?" IF asked at the sight of her face.

"Yes, I'm fine" She replied to her.

"Compa, you'll be fine" Neptune said while hugging her.

"Let's go already" IF told them.

"So heartless, Compa just had a near death experience for her first time" Ryo said to her.

"I'm not heartless; I just don't want to spend the rest of my day in here" She replied to him.

"Just got to wait until they're done, I'm sure it won't take long" Ryo said.

IF agreed to wait for Neptune to make Compa calm at remembering the fact that she could've died.

"You done?" IF asked the two.

"Yep" Compa answered her.

"Let's get outta here" Neptune said while she was heading for the entrance.

"So, while we're walking, why don't you tell us what was with your sword Ryo" IF said.

"We've waited long enough, it's time you told us Ryo" Neptune told him.

"You guys haven't exactly waited long" Ryo said.

"I've waited long enough, now tell me" Neptune said excited and was waiting for the answer.

"Compa, what about you, do you know what they're talking about?" He asked her.

She nodded as she remembered his blade killing the sandworm.

"I'll tell you after we get out of here, for now, we'll inform you about our little quest" He told IF.

"Quest you say, then please do" IF said waiting for the explanation.

"We are" Neptune said as she started explaining.

They explained their situation to IF as they were walking to the entrance.

They arrived outside after explaining to IF what they were doing.

"So basically, you're all looking for Key Fragments for this… Histy person"

"Ding-dong! Histy's sealed away somewhere in this world. She's like one of those secret optional characters" Neptune said making it sound stupid.

"The different fragments are guarded by monsters. So, the source is really whoever ordered the fragments to be guarded. That Histy character must have something to do with it, too. Saving the world, hmmm? It could be a big fib"

"Ooh, Iffy, you're beyond keen. How can you possibly be so observant at such a tender, young age?" Neptune asked.

"It's called common sense Neptune, most people have it" Ryo said to her with a hand to his face.

"No way, Iffy has to be incredibly smart to be able to know that" Neptune said to him not understanding what he actually meant by that.

"Tch, it's simple logic. If this is all true, however, Ryo here could probably do it, but even if you two got help from Ryo… it will spell doom for all humanity"

"I can't say you're wrong there" Ryo replied to her.

"No choice! I'll help. You're travelling, right? You'll need someone with you who's been to a lot of different lands"

"Oh, thank God you're joining us IF! I've been losing my sanity ever since I've joined these two" Ryo said to her.

"I can see that clearly Ryo, you don't have to worry about becoming insane anymore" IF said while playing along.

"Hey! Ryo are you making fun of us again?" Neptune asked him.

"Is that… true Ryo?" Compa asked.

"I'm uh… I'm just sort of stressed out actually" He said that as the two stared at him in disbelief.

"For now, we need to get back on track; do we have any better methods to finding the key fragments instead of just walking around randomly?" He asked to avoid their questions.

"About those fragments… If they're guarded by monsters, it might be pretty easy to find them after all" IF said while thinking about it.

"R-Really? Then, I'm sure we'll save Histy in no time" Compa said forgetting about Ryo.

"Basilicoms around the world have been researching monsters. I think they'll have a good idea where they spawn" IF said.

"So, speaking of… what's a Basilicom again?" Neptune asked having no idea of what it is.

"I'm apparently an amnesiac, so I need you to explain stuff to me in a manner convenient for the players to understand!"

"Players, what are you talking about?" Ryo asked her not understanding.

"Don't worry about it" She replied to him.

"Be patient with her Miss IF. She bumped her head on Ryo and lost her memory. Sorry for the delayed explanation"

"Wait, technically, she could've lost her memories before that"

"Yeah, well the best reason for my being an amnesiac is that I bumped my head in you, so deal with it" Neptune told him.

"Basilicoms are holy organisations run by those who serve the goddesses. There are two parts to a Basilicom: the Sanctuary where goddesses are cared for and Parliament for political activities." Compa explained to Neptune.

"Whoa, stop. Why not let people at the Basilicom explain it? We're heading there anyway"

"To ask about monsters? But we don't need to do that until we go to another landmass" Compa said not knowing why.

"Well, we'll need a permit from the Basilicom to travel anywhere. They manage the Sky harbours, too" IF explained to her.

"Oh, I see. Then we'll continue this when we reach the Basilicom. Okay, Nep-Nep?" Compa said to her.

They now all headed to the Basilicom.

"Whoa! This's a Basilicom? It's so big and towering and pretty and stuff! But where is everyone?" Neptune asked.

"Hiding from monsters, Planeptune seems more ravaged by them compared to other lands." IF said

"Anyway, go talk to the Basilicom's staff. They'll communicate with a different one and we'll be on our way"

"Okay, then I'll be back in a jiffy!" Neptune said.

"I'll go turn in the quest for the sandworm, Ryo, wait here and keep Compa Company. Ask them anything you want while you have the chance" IF said to the group before she left.

Inside the Basilicom

Excuse me, I wanna go to other landmasses! Is that okay?" Neptune yelled out in the Basilicom

"Ah, hello. Applying for Terraportation? Could you give us your reason and how long you will be traveling for?" Someone answered.

"How long? I dunno. Reason… Um, to defeat monsters! I wanna travel around the world and fight bad guys!" Neptune said

"Admirable for one so young, Okay, so… long-term… salvage areas attacked by monsters. There. Or shall I word it in a more vague way? Volunteer work? That'd look better on your resume." He said while writing on a form.

"I don't care, whatever. Hurry it up, my party is waiting for me!"

"Oh, you have some friends with you, hmm? Could you write their names here? …That's it. Thank you very much. Bye." The man said.

"W-Wait! This is my first time doing this, so I dunno anything about the Basilicom. Can you tell me about it?" Neptune asked.

"A Basilicom novice, eh? Let me tell you a bit about our origins and give a small history lesson. Long ago, Basilicoms were created by CPUs, Console Patrol Units you call goddesses. We assist them in governing this world."

"On the other hand, we perform missionary work to spread our beliefs. That's the gist of it. Did that help?"

"Hmm, no. Not particularly. I was expecting weird cult people here, but you guys seem normal enough." Neptune said.

"Well, it's different everywhere. Some Basilicoms may be constructed as weird. I really shouldn't say such things, though."

"So there are weird ones? Nice. The people, too?" Neptune asked

"Uh, sure. Well why not get back to your friends? You don't want them to wait too long, after all."

"Yeah, okay. Bye!"

"Neptune. A nice name for a nice girl." The man said.

Outside the Basilicom

After they leave, Ryo goes to a nearby tree and sits down beneath it with Compa following.

He sits there in silence, staring at the empty sky with a look of sorrow and sadness in his eyes.

Compa notices and asked "What's wrong Ryo?"

"Just thinking, nothing for you to be worried about" He said turning his face to hide his sorrow.

"You can tell me Ryo" She said.

"It's nothing, anyway, I've got a question for you" He said that diverting her attention away from his problem.

"What is it Ryo?" She asked him.

"Where do you keep your weapon, I just see it pop up out of nowhere" He said.

"Oh, you mean this" Compa said pulling out her syringe out of thin air.

"Yes, where is it when you're not using it?" He asked her, curious as to how.

"It is stored in something called hammer space, it is a another dimension, one used for storage of anything from items to weapons, when something is needed from this space, the user would pull it out and then put it back when finished, do you understand?" Compa asked him.

"Yeah, I do now" He said thinking that it's not that different from his way of drawing different weapons and armour.

"Any other questions?"

"Nope, I'm just going to relax until the other two get back" He said before closing his eyes to sleep.

He sat there, now asleep and dreaming.

It was exactly like before, he was standing somewhere, but he was alone.

"Hello, demon lord, if you're there, please answer" He said hoping for a response.

"Yeah, what do you want?"

"Demon lord, I want you to answer my question from before"

"Do you mean about how not everyone died in Planeptune?" He asked.

"Yes, what do you mean not everyone died?" Ryo asked.

"What I mean is that, in the massacre of Planeptune, around a thousand people escaped" He answered.

"A thousand huh, that's not a lot when you think about the population of Planeptune, how did they escape?" Ryo asked.

"Your friends held them off for people to escape, but unfortunately only those people escaped, anyone that hadn't escaped before then was killed"

"So, all my friends are dead then?" Ryo asked.

"Yes, I'm sorry for your loss"

"It's fine, if what you said in our previous conversation was true then I deserved to lose something important to me" Ryo said.

"You can believe what you want"

"Next is that you said you were a puppet, what does that mean?" Ryo asked.

"It means that I was being controlled, my movements and speech were all being controlled against my will"

"So when you said puppet, you meant that literally" Ryo said.

"Yes"

"How do you even have this information?" Ryo asked.

"This is something I knew beforehand, before you ask, just let me explain, there were eyes on each kingdom, I saw the slaughter happen whether I liked it or not, the masterminds did this to show that no matter how much I struggled, I would be under their control until I died"

"How late was I then, could I have stopped it?" Ryo asked.

"There's no point thinking about what you could've done, it's already happened"

"Just tell me, I have to know"

"Fine, someone ordered those monsters to attack Planeptune, it was a planned surprise attack, on that day people didn't have their weapons or armour with them, since you were preparing to go out that day you had your weapons and if you had stayed then maybe another life could have been saved"

"So if I hadn't left then I could've stopped that from ever happening"

"Enough with those thoughts, you keep thinking like that and you will enter depression" He said.

"B-But, if I" Ryo said before being interrupted.

"I said to stop, don't think like that" He ordered

"Fine, I've got another question to ask" Ryo said.

"Ask away"

"You said you transferred your mind here, what do you mean by that?" Ryo asked.

"Right now, my mind is in your head with the help of magic"

"Then what do you plan to do with yourself?"

"After we have this conservation I'll disappear, the real demon lord has actually died and this mind you are currently talking to is one made up of magic"

"So after we finish talking you'll be gone" Ryo said.

"Yes, it is unfortunate for me, but technically I'm already dead"

"Do you have anything else you wish to talk about?" Ryo asked.

"I have one thing left to do before I disappear; I'm going to give you some magic to help you"

"What's the catch?"

"What do you mean catch?" He asked.

"If you randomly give someone something for free, then there's gotta be a catch" Ryo said.

"I have a reason, in the future; you plan on going back don't you?" He asked

"I do some day, what of it?" Ryo asked.

"When you go back, I want you to help fix things"

"Fix things?" Ryo asked

"More like get rid of the corrupted politicians that control everything"

"Do you mean politicians in general?" Ryo asked

"No, do you know the leader of the Kingdoms?" The demon lord asked.

"I'm pretty sure they're the CPU's right"

"Yes, they are being controlled or manipulated in some way, from what I've seen through your eyes of Purple Heart, back there, Planeptune would have been on good terms with the other Kingdoms"

"You have a point, during the war, all of the Kingdoms were on the verge of war with each other" Ryo said in thought.

"I also want you to help with Demon City as well" The demon lord said.

"So, I just have to get rid of the puppeteer in Demon City and the Kingdoms?" Ryo asked

"Yes, my request is that you help the Kingdoms with this problem, expose the ways of manipulation of the puppeteers in each land, make sure that no more wars will start between them and hopefully make them allies"

"Is there a specific way I have to do this?" Ryo asked.

"No, how you go about this is your choice"

"Then, how do I know who's pulling the strings from behind the scenes?" Ryo asked.

"Get an audience with each CPU, whoever is the closest to them is the one you must expose"

"Thanks, so, what magic you giving me?" Ryo asked curious as to what he would be given.

"The magic I'm giving you is the fire of darkness"

"Darkness" Ryo said, thinking that something is wrong with it.

"Is this magic going to make me evil over time or something?" Ryo asked.

"I don't know, it was a new magic that was created, not much is known about it" He said.

"So you're saying there could be something wrong with it and I'm just the guinea pig?" Ryo asked.

"Not really… you should be able to handle it just fine" He said after pausing.

"There's probably a catch, how are you going to give it to me anyway?" Ryo asked.

"When you wake up, the knowledge of it should be in your head"

"That's just great" Ryo said before sighing.

"One more thing" He said.

"What else could there be?" Ryo asked.

"The power source of it is different than other magic"

"Figures, if you call it the fire of darkness it's obviously different" Ryo said.

"The power source of it is your memories"

"What do you mean memories?" Ryo asked.

"Not really memories, more like the amount of negative emotions you've felt in your lifetime, it uses that as its power source, so the more you've suffered the more powerful it is"

"What kind then?" Ryo asked.

"The types of emotions are negative ones, so anger, sadness, loneliness, uncertainty, these kinds of emotions power this fire"

"Then why are you giving it to me?" Ryo asked.

"Because of the past you have, one filled with blood and sadness"

"Oh, I see, how long have we been talking?" Ryo asked feeling uncomfortable about the topic.

"We've been talking for a few minutes now"

"Do you have any last words?" Ryo asked.

"Just this, thank you" He said as he faded into nothing and with that Ryo could feel something.

"WAKE UP RYO!" Someone yelled in his ear. This quickly woke him up as he was being shaken.

"What the hell, why is it so loud?" Ryo asked, dazed by the sun in his eyes, from getting shaken awake and someone yelling in his ear.

"You weren't waking up Ryo" Neptune said.

"Did you have to yell right beside me and shake me awake?" Ryo asked sounding annoyed.

"Well, you weren't waking up, it was the only choice we had" Neptune said while holding a marker.

"It's true Ryo, no matter how what we tried, you wouldn't wake up" Compa said.

"Neptune, what's that in your hands?" Ryo asked.

"Oh, this, I found it" Neptune said.

"Do any of you have a mirror?" Ryo asked.

"I do" Compa answered as she handed him a mirror.

Ryo was surprised at what he saw; he had seen that his face had black markings on it.

"IF, where is the nearest tap?" Ryo asked.

"Over there, you aren't mad?" IF asked wondering why while pointing towards it.

"Do you want to find out?" Ryo asked with a smile, but looked scary at the same time.

"No thanks, I'm fine with not knowing" IF responded.

"Ryo, you look scary" Compa said.

Neptune didn't notice this and was amused at her prank.

"Could you guys wait here for a sec, I need to wash this stuff of my face" He said as he headed for the tap, washing every bit of his face and then coming back.

"Now, Neptune, did you draw on my face?" Ryo asked angrily.

"No I didn't" Neptune said still holding the marker.

"Then why are you still holding that?" Ryo asked still angry.

"I found it" Neptune replied to him.

"Why do you still have that marker?" Ryo asked.

"I dunno" Neptune answered.

"Can I have it?" Ryo asked.

"Um, sure, but why?"

"I sort of need to write some stuff down" He answered before she gave it.

"Now close your eyes, I'm going to give you a little present"

"Oh, really, what is it?" Neptune asked excitedly.

"You'll find out if you close your eyes" He answered her as she closed her eyes awaiting her present.

He got the marker he was holding ready and moved it closer to her face about to make contact until Neptune opened her eyes, deciding not to wait anymore for her present. She started running away to avoid being drawn on.

"Dammit" He said as he started chasing her.

"Stop running Neptune, I promise I won't do anything" He said to her.

"Lair, if you won't do anything, then why are you still chasing me?" Neptune asked

"If you stop, you'll find out" Ryo said to her.

"Don't wanna!" She yelled back.

They constantly kept chasing each other around until IF interrupted.

"As entertaining this is to watch, we need to head over to the next landmass whenever, if you have anything left to do here, then say so now" IF said, stopping the two from running around.

"I'm going to get you back later Neptune, for now we have one thing to do" Ryo said as he threw the marker away.

"You're going to get me back, how are you gonna do that Ryo?" Neptune asked.

"Now why would I do something like that, you'll have to find out for yourself" Ryo replied.

"You demon, you would trick one of your friends?" Neptune asked in shock.

"That's enough you two, what do you need to do Ryo?" IF asked stopping the argument.

"Oh, well I want a gun and Neptune here needs a real sword instead of a wooden one" Ryo replied.

"That's right, we need to get Neptune a real sword, and you guys can go buy it right?" IF asked.

"Compa, do we have any credits or do you know where we can buy weapons?" Ryo asked.

"No, I don't have any credits and I don't know where we can buy weapons" Compa replied.

Ryo was about to ask Neptune, but stopped and figured it would be useless.

"Why aren't you asking me Ryo?" Neptune asked.

"You're you, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't know" Ryo said.

"B-But you still could have asked me" Neptune replied.

"How is it you guys don't know where anything is around here" IF said before sighing.

"Follow me then" IF said as she headed towards the weapon shop with the others following.

As they arrive, they're surprised to see so many weapons.

"Are all of these weapons?" Ryo asked.

"Not all of it is weapons, some of it is different like armour or other things" IF answered.

"Let's take a look then" Ryo said, excited by the weapons.

They all headed in, searching for a weapon for Neptune and a gun for Ryo. He notices something weird.

"I haven't heard anything for a while, where's Neptune?" Ryo asked while looking around.

"Where did she go?" IF asked.

"Did she really run off?" Ryo asked

"She did, now we have to find her" IF said as they looked around.

They took a look around to find that Neptune was at a stall, staring at some strange weapons asking questions to a confused woman.

"What is this, why does that look so weird, what happens if I press this big red button, why is that coloured purple, why is this gun so big?" She asked.

"Nep-Nep, what are you doing?" Compa asked.

"I'm taking a look at these weapons, what else" Neptune replied.

"We were looking for you" Ryo said to her.

"You were, why?" Neptune asked in surprise.

"You randomly walked off" Ryo told her.

"But look at these weapons, you press this and this weird energy thing comes out" Neptune said as she pressed a button on a hilt of a sword, a blade of purple energy came out.

"See, it looks so futuristic, can I have this?" Neptune asked.

"She's like a child, anyway, IF how much do we have to spend?" Ryo asked.

"We have about 2000 credits, how much is that?" IF asked.

"It's 1500 credits" Neptune read out.

"Way too much, we'll find a different weapon" Ryo said.

"But I want this one" Neptune argued back.

"Fine, if you want it then you pay for it, we don't have enough credits to buy it" He said.

"Wait, she has to buy it herself, she doesn't have any credits, isn't that being harsh?" IF asked.

"No, now Neptune, pay and we'll be on our way" Ryo said.

"Fine, I'll put it back" She said reluctantly as she put it back.

"Now we need to find a weapon, let's go" IF said as they walked off to find a weapon.

After some time, Ryo spotted a sword.

"I found one" He said as he headed over to there with the others.

"What'd you find" IF asked.

"Will this do?" He asked Neptune as he handed her a katana.

"Yeah, this'll be fine" Neptune said, disappointed at how she couldn't get what she wanted.

"How much is it Ryo?" IF asked.

"500 credits, that's cheap right?" Ryo asked.

"Yeah, it is, we'll buy it then" IF said as she bought the item and gave it to Neptune.

"What a shame, such a good blade is seen as inferior" Ryo said.

"Well, what do you expect, you saw Neptune's reaction back there when she saw that energy blade, people like those better than steel blades" IF said.

"I see, now we just got to get a gun"

"Only if it's cheap" IF said to him.

"But, what gun do I get?" Ryo asked them.

"Get whatever you want as long as it's cheap" IF answered him.

"Then, I want something that's small and light" Ryo said.

"Then we'll get you a pistol" IF said as they all looked for one.

They took a look around again where Ryo noticed a silhouette in the shape of a man about to throw away an automatic pistol.

"Excuse me, sir, why are you throwing that away?" Ryo asked as he ran over to him with the others following.

"Why are you throwing that away, it looks just fine" IF said.

"Oh, you mean this, it's a gun my company made, but it isn't selling" The man answered.

"Why isn't it selling, it looks just fine" Compa said.

"Compa's right, even if it's weak and looks pathetic, you shouldn't just throw it away" Neptune said.

"How blunt, it looks like a normal gun, what makes it so different than all the other ones on display?" Ryo asked.

"The reason why is because, the only people that use weapons are monster hunters or soldiers"

"Your point is?" IF asked.

"How many of the people that are monster hunters or soldiers uses magic?" The man asked.

"Not that many people use magic, so that would mean not many people would actually need this" IF said.

"Exactly, and to counter that factor, this gun is able to evolve according to the users fighting style or magic" As the man told them this Ryo was interested in it.

"That's pretty cool, I don't see why people wouldn't want it" Ryo said.

"People these days don't like having a weak weapon that will get stronger over time, they just want strong weapons straight away" The man explained to them.

"That's not a good enough reason for people not to buy this" IF said.

"Yeah, I know, I just want to get rid of this thing"

"Could you show us what it does?" Neptune asked, excited at hearing that it can evolve.

"I can't show you, it needs to have an owner first" The man told her.

"Can I be its owner then?" Neptune asked.

"That's not fair, you already have a gun" Ryo said to her.

"B-But, it evolves and it sounds really cool" Neptune argued back.

"Neptune, what will you do if it's really weak?" He asked her.

"Then I'll get a new one" She said to him.

"I don't see why you would do that, sir, how much is it?" He asked the man.

"Originally, it's around 50,000 credits, but since it isn't selling at all, you can have it for 500" The man told them.

"That's so much" Neptune commented.

"IF, can I have it?" He asked her.

"Fine, we'll get this" IF said as she gave him the credits.

"Thanks, anyway, you said it needed an owner, what do you mean by that?" Ryo asked the man.

"By owner, I mean that it will only work for him or her only and evolve according to their preferences" The man explained to them.

"What am I meant to do?" He asked him.

"Here, just hold it and it will do the rest" The man said as he handed him the gun.

"Okay, I hope it doesn't blow up in my face or anything" He said as he grabbed hold of it.

As he grabbed hold of it a HUD appeared with a list of his party members on the side with their health and levels with some words. Ryo made a note to ask about that later.

"Starting up magic pistol system 1.0, do you wish to input a new name for this weapon?" It asked.

"Um, yes I do" Ryo answered to it, to everyone else he looked crazy.

"Please input new name" It said.

"Burning Magnum" He said naming his new weapon.

"Input confirmed, magic pistol changed to Burning Magnum 1.0, ownership needs to be confirmed, do you wish to continue?" It asked.

"I do" He answered.

"Standby for DNA scan" It said.

"What does it mean by DNA scan?" He asked the group.

"It does exactly what it says, it's going to scan your DNA so only you can use it" The man answered.

Suddenly Ryo felt a massive amount of pain in his arm.

"WHAT THE FUCK, it hurts" He said to them in pain, trying not to yell it out.

"Language Ryo" Compa reminded him.

"What do you want me to do, my arm is in a massive amount of pain and I wasn't warned beforehand" He said to them, specifically the man.

"That slipped my mind" The man said.

"It slipped, feeling pain while starting this thing up slipped your mind, really?" He asked in pain.

"Ryo, you look like you're in pain" Neptune said.

"Did you just notice now?" He asked her.

"Yep" She replied.

"She's got the attention span of a goldfish" He thought.

"I can now see why people wouldn't want to buy this, you should use something else instead of a painful DNA scan" He said.

"We really should change that"

"YOU THINK OF THAT NOW" Ryo said in anger

"DNA scan complete, please input name of user to finish" It said.

"My name is Ryoichi Osamu" He said still in pain.

"Installation complete, thank you from buying from Nepzilla" It said.

"Nepzilla, what kind of name is that for a company?" Ryo asked still in pain.

"My friend picked it, not me"

"Whatever, can I have the holster for this gun?" Ryo asked.

"Here you go, also, the holster will evolve with the gun to fit it and if you ever need anything, just ask the computer in the gun" The man told him.

"By the way is your company symbol a dinosaur like thing that can breathe fire?" Ryo asked.

"Yes it is, have you heard of us?" The man asked

"Of course, I've heard of it a bit, thanks for the gun" Ryo said as he walked away.

"Are you okay Ryo?" IF asked.

"I'm fine, Compa do you have any pain killers?" He asked her.

"Nope, all I have is medicine and bandages" She answered.

"Dammit, I'm still in pain" He complained.

"Suck it up Ryo" IF told him.

"You're not the one who had to suffer that were you" He said to her.

"You'll be fine" She replied.

"What do I do about ammo?" He asked them.

"Ryo, in this day and age, you don't have to buy ammo anymore, that was in the past, now guns have unlimited ammo and you never have to buy more" Compa explained to him.

"Thanks" He said still feeling some pain.

"Why don't you use hammer space Ryo?" Neptune asked.

"Because I don't want to" He answered back to her.

"But, don't things get easier to carry of they're in hammer space?" IF asked.

"All you have to do is put it there and then draw it out like this" Neptune said pulling out her new blade scaring some people.

"Don't pull that out here, you look crazy" He told her panicking.

"I was just demonstrating" Neptune said.

"Can we get another quest now?" Ryo asked.

"Which one would you like?" Compa asked.

"You pick" He said.

"Okay, I've heard that the sandworm we defeated has reappeared and is causing trouble" Compa said.

"Let's go with that one then" Neptune said.

"Fine, let's go then" IF said as the group went to the location.

They headed inside the same cave.

"I know I'm the newest party member, but can we get a move on and go somewhere else already" IF said.

"We can't ignore all the monsters left on Planeptune. We gotta walk this path properly, y'know?" Neptune said.

"Yeah. 'slow and steady wins the race!' Collecting Key Fragments is important, but we can't leave troubled people alone!" Compa said.

With that they all headed into the same cave and found another Jaki to kill.

"Oh a monster, now I can test out my blade!" Neptune said as she took out her sword.

"Me too, I can test this thing out as well" Ryo said as he took out his gun.

"So, should the two of us do anything or can we relax for this?" IF asked.

"Iffy, we can't do that, we have to help them" Compa said.

"You two can relax, we can kill this easily" Neptune said.

"Are those two gonna get any experience from this?" Ryo asked.

"Of course Ryo, why wouldn't they, we're in a party so we all get the same amount of experience" Neptune explained with a confused look.

"Oh, then let's just focus on killing this" Ryo said as he shot it.

The bullets just bounced off as they hit.

"I expected it to be stronger than that" Ryo said disappointed by how weak it was.

"Tough luck Ryo, maybe next time" Neptune said as she went in and attacked.

Neptune was attacking it constantly with a relentless combo of punches, kicks and slashes. Ryo kept on shooting it and got fed up with the gun and switched to his deep red blade and charged in with Neptune and attacked the other side.

It swung sideways at Neptune where she jumped up to dodge it and kicked it in the face while yelling "Take that!"

This pissed it off to no ends as from a bystander's point of view, it looked like she was playing with it. After a few more cuts from the two, it fell over and died.

"Are you two finished?" IF asked.

"Yep, we're done and still at full health" Neptune said.

"Too bad Ryo that gun is really weak, you shouldn't use it in boss battles, it'll just get in the way" IF said.

"Yeah, this thing is really weak" Ryo said.

"Don't worry Ryo, I'm sure you'll be stronger in no time" Compa said comforting him.

"Let's go already" IF said as the group continued through the dungeon.

They went through the dungeon killing whatever they saw and had reached the sandworm and had killed it after some time.

After they had killed the sandworm they heard an evil laugh "Haaaah hahaha! I've found, Neptune. I didn't think you actually fell to the world below!"

They turned towards the laugh. It was a woman with pale skin, her hair was a lighter colour then Neptune's hair and slightly shorter. Her fingernails were really long; on her head was a witches hat with thorns on it and a rose.

Thorns were on her neck and arms. Her clothes were a black corset that was held by cords and showed her cleavage and the area around her belly button was exposed and she had detached sleeves had spiky bits on them. She wore skin-tight black pants and black witch boots and on the back was something that had the edges of a skirt.

"Who's there? What's with that melodramatic laugh…? Neptune asked.

"How creepy" Ryo commented

"Don't mock my snickering! Pushing people's buttons… You've not changed one bit" The woman said to the two of them.

"Makes it easier for me to desire your demise. Brace yourself!" The woman said as she took a battle stance, while she was doing that Neptune was confused as to why she was being attacked.

"Neptune, what the hell are you doing! Hurry up and transform!" Ryo yelled as he pulled out his weapons.

"Oh, right, could you just give me a sec" Neptune said as she pulled out her disk and transformed.

"Hey, are you two done bickering?" IF asked.

"We are, let's begin the battle" Neptune said

"Ryo, why are you using the gun?" IF asked him.

"Why not use it?" He asked back.

"That's because when you used it before on the monsters, it was really weak" Neptune said.

"I told you not to use it during boss battles Ryo, all it will do is get in the way" IF told him.

"Ryo, you should listen to these two" Compa said.

"Three on one is not fair, but fine, I won't use it now" He said reluctantly as he put the gun back.

"Are you gonna keep on talking or can we start already?" The woman asked as she floated in the air with a spear in hand, the end of the spear looked like a cross where there were four blades attached if looked at from the side, the blade bit itself had little gaps in in it where this design was probably done to make it look strong.

"Oh, sorry about that old lady" Ryo said to her.

"DID YOU JUST CALL ME OLD?" She yelled out to him as she charged at him getting ready to stab.

Neptune intercepted with an attack which made her back off.

"Get out of my way Neptune, unless you want to be next" The woman threatened her.

"If you attack him, you have to deal with me" Neptune said confidently.

"Neptune, did you just intercept just so you could use that line?" Ryo asked.

"Is that any way to thank someone after they saved you" Neptune said.

"I don't need saving right now" He said.

"Hey Grandma, why're you attacking poor, little Neptune here?" Ryo asked

"I am neither poor nor little" Neptune told him.

"GRANDMA… I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" She yelled back as she was fighting off IF and Compa.

"Are you two just gonna stand there all day, come over here and help us" IF yelled as she moved back.

"Could it be that you two are hurt?" Compa asked worried about them.

"We're fine, we don't need to be healed right now" Neptune told her.

"She only payed attention to the insult, not the question" Ryo said as he went to help IF.

"What do you expect, you just insulted her" Neptune told him as she went to help.

The three were attacking her at all sides until she swung her spear quickly where they all moved back.

"You'll die first" The woman told Ryo as she went to Ryo and ready to stab.

Ryo was ready to parry and held his sword with both hands, she stabbed quickly with it and kept up the assault on Ryo.

"Why do you keep on trying to kill me?" He asked as he was dodging or parrying her spear.

"YOU ASK WHY YOU LITTLE BRAT!" She yelled as she was attacking.

"Can't you relax or something" He said as Neptune and the others were attacking her back, this didn't faze her at all, she just kept on attacking Ryo.

"I'll relax when you're dead" She said seriously.

"Ryo, are you okay?" Neptune asked.

"Why are you just blocking, attack her" IF told him.

"What do you think… I'm doing?" He yelled as he ducked from the spear.

"You two should worry more about yourselves first before this kid" She said as she swung it around again with the two dodging again.

"Dammit, no matter what we do, she's focused on killing Ryo" IF said.

"We have to get her away from Ryo or he's finished" Neptune said.

"I'm fine you guys, you don't have to worry about me" He said as he popped up out of nowhere.

"Weren't you over there?" IF asked.

"How did you get here so fast?" Neptune asked.

"Ryo, are you okay?" Compa asked.

"I ran here and I'm fine, I just have some scratches here and there"

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BRAT!" She yelled to them.

Compa jumped when she heard this and was terrified, IF was trying to comfort her and Neptune and Ryo were ready for round two.

"Are you ready Ryo?" Neptune asked.

"I'm okay, Neptune, I've got a little plan, want to hear it?" He asked her.

"Plan, what are you going to do?" Compa asked

"Don't worry, she's fine now, I calmed her down, so, what's this I hear about a plan?" IF asked.

"Don't have time, do not look up and when I give you the signal, you attack" He said as he was preparing to throw his sword once more.

"That trick won't work on an opponent like her" Neptune said.

"Nep's right, she's far away and can easily dodge it and what's the signal?" IF asked him.

"Just wait for me to land a hit then go in, I assure you this will work" He told them as he threw the sword in an arc and was high in the air.

They all stopped to look at the now arcing sword, it was in the air for some time and the woman wasn't impressed.

"This is it, aren't you getting desperate now, throwing your weapon at your opponent, something like this can't hit me" She said as she was about to move out of the landing zone until she saw out of the corner of her eye a figure in front of her.

"You noticed a moment too late" He said before he made his move.

She was punched in the stomach and then he did a roundhouse kick with his right foot which she barely dodged by moving back, his right foot went over his left and was on the ground, he made his body turn using the momentum he had gained using the kick and then extended his left leg outwards kicking her and sending her flying backwards towards the wall.

"What happened Ryo?" Compa asked.

"Why're you over there?" IF asked.

"I told you not to look up, so why did you?" he asked them as he walked over.

"Oh, sorry about that" IF said

"Sorry Ryo, I forgot" Compa said.

"How do you know how to fight like that, last I checked, you use a sword" Neptune said.

"So do you, yet you throw in a few punches and kicks"

"I've seen you fight, not once before have I seen you use your fists or legs" Neptune told him.

"I improvised; I couldn't do more than that"

"What are you two talking about, I need an explanation of what just happened" IF told them.

"He threw the sword up and used it as a distraction, this led to her letting down her guard and Ryo went in and made his move" Neptune explained.

"Wow, you easily knew my plan yet you just stood there and watched" Ryo said.

"I wanted to see what you would do" Neptune said.

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand" Compa said.

"I'm not following what you did either" IF said.

"I can't be bothered nor do we have the time to explain, she should be getting up right about now" He said as he took a glance over to the wall.

"Does she still want to fight after all we've done?" Neptune asked as they all got ready for battle.

"Hey Grandma, do you need some time to catch your breath?" Ryo yelled to her.

"You brat, you're going to die first" She told him.

"Sorry, but I don't plan on dying today" He said as he held his blade.

"Ryo, you're going to have to stop insulting her" IF told him.

"It's not nice to insult people" Compa told him.

"Don't worry about it, it'll all work out" He told them.

"It's nice to see that you're so carefree in all of this" IF told him.

"Does it really matter?" He asked as a weird energy gathered around her spear.

She went up and started the same attack of stabbing, except that it was faster and stronger than before. This made them move around a lot which then made it hard for anyone to land a hit. Ryo was backed up against the wall after a few more stabs, she was getting ready to finish him off.

"What's that behind you?" He asked as he pointed.

"Do you actually think that's going to work?" She asked as she was about to end his life.

"Of course it will" He said as the woman got attacked by Neptune.

"Ryo, are you hurt?" Neptune asked as she got the woman away from him.

"Thanks for the save and I'm no worse than before" He told her.

"You two, can we finish this already?" IF asked as the other two came over.

"Fine, let's end this" Neptune said with confidence in her skills.

"Hey, I'm gonna do something really stupid right now, when I do, we finish her off" He told them.

As they were about to stop him, he yelled "HEY GRANDMA, I'M RIGHT HERE, COME AND GET ME YOU OLD HAG!"

"Why'd you make her even angrier than before?" Neptune asked.

"Wait for it" He told them.

"NOW IT'S OLD HAG, YOU JUST DON'T KNOW WHEN TO QUIT DO YOU?" The woman asked in anger, completely intent on killing him.

She charged at him, spear ready and was about to stab until Neptune intercepted and all of them attacked at the same time, overwhelming her and after their assault, she gave out and fell on the floor, now defeated.

"Damn it all. You don't even look like you exercise, so why? Tch, that's right… this is Planeptune…!"

"It's your home turf, Neptune. But it won't be like this next time. You will die the next time. Don't forget my words!" The woman told them before leaving.

"What the hell? She came out of nowhere, threw a hissy fit, and left. She must be menstruating or something." IF said madly.

"Who cares, we're alive and not injured much" He told her.

"Yeah, but you almost died Ryo" Neptune said before changing back.

"So what, it's a problem I deal with constantly" He told them.

"Do any of you need to be healed?" Compa asked.

"I'm okay and completely fine" Neptune said with vigour

The other two just shook their heads as a response.

"Can we leave already, that boss fight felt like forever" Neptune complained

"Alright then, let's go get our reward" IF said.

The group went to the Basilicom. They got their reward of 1000 credits.

"Can we get a move on to the next landmass?" IF asked.

"Let's go" Neptune said excited at the thought.

"Are we able to go right now though?" Ryo asked.

"We can for today, if we don't then we'll have to wait another three days" IF said.

"Then let's go today" Ryo said.

"Then we should get going to the Sky harbour" IF said as they headed to the sky harbour.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

They headed to the sky harbour which took a few minutes. On their way there Ryo asked.

"Hey, why do I suddenly have a HUD?" He asked.

"What do you mean Ryo?" Compa replied with a question of her own.

"What I mean to ask is that why is it that in my sight is a list of you guys and levels?" He asked again.

"What are you talking about Ryo, that's always been there" Compa answered.

"Not for me, this popped up when I grabbed the gun"

"Ryo, what are you talking about, have you gone crazy?" IF asked.

"I'm not crazy, I don't know why I have a HUD" He said.

"Sir, do you wish for an explanation?" A voice asked out of nowhere.

"What's that voice?" Ryo asked.

"I am your weapon Burning Magnum, do you wish for an explanation?" It asked again.

"Um, sure, but are they able to hear you?" Ryo asked.

"They cannot, do you wish to change this option?"

"Ryo, who're you talking to?" Neptune asked.

"It's the gun and yes I want to change it" He answered.

"As you wish" It responded and surprised the other three.

"Whose voice is that, is it another character?" Neptune asked.

"No, it's not, it's the gun" Ryo answered.

"So that's who you were talking to in the shop, I just thought you went crazy" IF said.

"Do you need to rest Ryo?" Compa asked.

"No I don't, just because IF here thought I was crazy doesn't mean I was, anyway, what am I meant to call it?" Ryo asked.

"Are you gonna come up with a name Ryo, if you are then just make sure it sounds cool" Neptune said.

"I'm not gonna bother thinking of a cool name" Ryo answered.

"Sir, do you wish to name me so that I may assist when called?" It asked.

"Yeah I would, the name I'm going to give you is computer, is that okay?" He asked it.

"Yes it is, new name received, name for AI has been named computer" It said.

"Why'd you name it that, why don't you call it something cool?" Neptune asked.

"Why don't you come up with something creative Ryo" IF said.

"No, I'm not going to name it something else, for now I want an explanation for the HUD" Ryo demanded.

"Yes sir, the reason you are looking for is because of the DNA scan that was taken" It said.

"DNA scan, what does it mean by that?" Compa asked.

"The DNA scan showed that your blood does not match anyone in Gamindustri, this means that you did not have a HUD like everyone else and therefor was given one"

"It showed that your DNA doesn't match, computer, what do you mean by that?" IF asked as Neptune was trying to figure out an answer.

"I have just told you, his DNA does not match or the fact that no traces of his blood through family or relatives have been found in any records on Gamindustri"

"So, does that mean you're an alien?" Neptune asked excitedly.

"No, I'm pretty sure I'm human" Ryo replied.

"That's no fun" Neptune said disappointed by that.

"Ryo, what's the meaning of this?" IF asked as she pulled out her weapons.

"Iffy, what are you doing?" Compa asked.

"His DNA can't be found anywhere in Gamindustri, this means that he's been hiding something from us, get away from him you two" IF commanded with a serious look which made the two obey.

"Is that true Ryo?" Compa asked in fear.

"How am I meant to explain this, I have been hiding something from you guys, but I'm pretty sure that you aren't going to believe me" Ryo said as he rubbed the back of his head, thinking.

"I'll decide whether to believe you or not depending on what you say" IF replied.

"Okay then, I'm from… another world, why is it that sounded so stupid?" He asked himself.

"You're from another world, where did you come from, how did you get here, what powers do you have, does this mean you are an alien?" Neptune asked excitedly.

"That does sound stupid, Nep, what makes you so sure that he isn't just spouting lies" IF said.

"How do you know what I'm saying isn't the truth?" Ryo asked her.

"Then give me proof that you're from another world then, I need more than just the computer saying that" IF said.

"What I say is true, why do you need more proof than what I say?" The computer asked.

"Just because, now Ryo, give us some proof so that we can trust you" IF said.

"Proof huh" He said crossing his arms while thinking.

"Give me some proof or else I'll consider you an enemy" IF said.

"Will this do?" He asked as he had fire in his hand.

"So what, you're using magic, just because not that many people use it doesn't mean it's impossible" IF said.

"Give me a sec, my head is going blank right now" He said as he kept thinking.

"You seem awfully calm for someone with a weapon pointed at them" IF said.

"I've got my reasons, what about this then?" He asked as fire was engulfing his feet which then enabled him to hover above the ground.

"Is this good enough?" He asked them.

IF stood there in thought as the other two were amazed at his amazing feat.

"Ryo, how did you do that?" Neptune asked as Compa stood there staring at him.

"It's called magic, anyway, IF is that good enough for you?" He asked her

"Yeah, that's good enough proof to say that you're from another world" IF said as she put away her weapons.

"Good" He said as he landed from where he was hovering.

"Why didn't you tell us Ryo?" Compa asked.

"Who would believe me, what would happen if I had told you three that?" He asked them.

"You have a point" IF said

"Why didn't you tell me, we're soul mates" Neptune said.

"You could have told us Ryo, we would believe you" Compa said.

"That's right, there are two people here who would actually believe that" He said with a hand to his face.

"What other magic tricks can you do Ryo?" Neptune asked excitedly.

"They're not magic tricks, its magic used for battle" He replied to her.

"Can you show us?" Neptune asked.

"No, I'm not gonna show you, there would be no point"

"Hey, don't we need to go to the sky harbour now?" IF asked them.

"Then let's go" Neptune said with enthusiasm.

"Come on then" IF said gesturing the group to follow her.

On the way Ryo thought about what he was told by the demon lord and had the knowledge of the dark fire in his head and knew that someday he had to find a way back. He knew that thinking about it wouldn't help much.

They arrived at the sky harbour.

As they arrived Neptune said "Ooh, look, the ground is split here! Did this happen during some great war from long, long ago?!"

"I betcha it was a totally crazy, epic war between some profound sort of darkness and a really great light!"

"… What's she babbling about?" IF asked.

"Who knows what she's talking about, no one could possibly know what's going on inside that head of hers" Ryo answered as IF sighed.

"I'm sorry. Please be patient with her. She really doesn't remember anything… I think" Compa said

"Right. Hearing that from a nurse-in-training is reassuring. How long have you known her?" IF asked.

"A few days, I found her with Ryo here" Compa said.

"What do you mean you found her with Ryo?" IF asked.

"Let me explain, Neptune was falling from the sky like a meteor and I caught her to stop her from hitting the ground. It really hurt" Ryo said.

"She was falling from the sky you say, there is no way that could have happened" IF said.

"Then the pain I felt from her crashing into me wasn't real then" He said.

"I saw Nep-Nep fall and followed it and found the two"

"Okay I believe you" IF said.

"And afterwards I treated their wounds Miss IF" Compa said.

"Huh? Oh, it's been bugging me, but you call me 'Miss.' you don't have to be so formal, but…"

"Iffy, Compa, Ryo, hurry up! The view is so stupendous from here. You two scared? Hah, I bet you are. I'm so brave!"

"I don't like her being overly friendly with me. I feel like she doesn't quite understand her place beneath me."

"IF, don't worry about it, plus even if you tell her that, she wouldn't listen" Ryo said.

"Nep-Nep, this is the Sky Harbor area, where two landmasses come in contact with one another." Compa explained to Neptune.

"It doesn't really mean the ground is split."

"Oh, I see. So how do I cross over? Should I jump? Should I shout 'wahoo!' as I do it?"

"Why not slap on some overalls and a red hat while you're at it? Actually, we use a bridge to cross over." IF said as the other two came over.

"A bridge, what do you mean a bridge?" Ryo asked

"The bridge is actually terraportation where we travel through a dungeon to get to the other side."

"We needed he Basilicom's permit to get the bridge lowered. Now we can use it anytime."

"Oh, that's what you meant, then we should get going then." Ryo said.

"Alright then, follow me" IF said that as the group followed her.

They entered a room with a circular pad in the middle and a red switch.

"What is this place?" Ryo asked

"This is how we get to the dungeon which will lead us to Lastation" IF explained.

"Oh, I see, I presume we just get on that circle thing and press the big red button" Ryo said.

"Generally yeah, but I don't know why they made it a red button, when stuff is usually labelled red it means it shouldn't be pressed" IF replied

"Who cares why, let's just get on and go" Ryo said and they all got on.

Ryo was about to press it when "Wait, can I press it?" Neptune said.

"Sure, go ahead" He said that and she pressed it and terraported them to a dungeon.

A light enveloped them which blinded them, when they opened their eyes they found themselves in a cave. A map appeared on Ryo's HUD.

"Why are we in a cave of all things?" Ryo asked.

"Who cares, all we have to do is reach the end" IF answered.

"Why a cave though?" He asked again.

"Let's go and conquer this dungeon already!" Neptune yelled 10 metres away from them with Compa.

"How did she get over there so quickly?" IF asked.

"I don't know, but if we don't hurry up they'll ditch us" He said as they two caught up.

"Neptune, Compa, how did you two get over here so fast?" Ryo asked.

"You two were chatting away and I felt like exploring this unknown dungeon" She answered.

"Then wait for us" Ryo told her.

"But I didn't wanna, you two were taking too long" She replied

"Three lines were spoken and then you ran off" Ryo said to her.

"You two shouldn't fight, you might accidently set off a trap" Compa said trying to stop the two.

"She's right, now let's do this thing" Neptune said pumped to finish.

"Whatever you say" Ryo said before sighing.

Neptune took the lead cheerfully and after a few steps he foot stepped on a switch disguised as a rock and on both her sides, holes opened up with arrows facing her.

"Oops, did a trap just activate?" Neptune asked jokingly as the arrows were preparing to fire.

She stood still, not moving.

"Why the hell are there traps in here?" Ryo asked as he ran in making the two hit the ground as the arrows were fired.

One of the arrows went into Ryo's arm before they hit the ground; luckily the rest of the arrows flew over them hitting the walls.

"Are you okay Neptune?" Ryo asked as he questioned why there were traps in a dungeon.

"Yep, thanks for the save Ryo" She said as the two got off the ground.

"This is gonna hurt a bit" He said as he pulled the arrow out of his arm with a disgusting sound of the arrow ripping a small amount of his flesh and dripping blood.

"That sounded so gross" Neptune commented

Neptune and Compa went green and were struggling to not vomit at the sight of that. He held out his other arm which wasn't hurt, a blue fire appeared and he brought it up to his wound.

"That was pretty reckless Ryo, you should be more careful" IF said.

"Thanks, can you take care of the other two, they look like they're gonna throw up" Ryo said.

"I can't help it now can I" IF said as she went over to comfort the two.

"You two okay?" IF asked.

"Yep, just gotta give me a sec" Neptune replied while on the verge of throwing up.

"Are you okay Compa?" IF asked.

"Um, I'm fine, it's just that when I saw that, I felt something in my stomach" Compa replied.

"You two will be fine look at Ryo, he got hurt and isn't even fazed by it" IF said as they took a look over at him.

He had his eyes closed and was focusing on healing his wound.

"He really looks like his focusing, what would happen if we went over there?" Neptune asked with something in mind.

"I don't know. But you probably shouldn't" IF said.

Neptune was in thought of whether she should or shouldn't disturb him.

"Nep-Nep, you're being rude, you shouldn't do that when someone's focusing" Compa said.

"Ryo, are you okay?" Neptune yelled from a distance.

"Even though we just said you shouldn't" IF said.

"What are you doing Nep-Nep, you're going to disturb him" Compa said.

"I'm fine thanks, just give me a second" He said as he opened his eyes with the blue flame still covering his arm.

They all walked over to him and took a look at his arm.

"Move your hand Ryo, I can't see" Neptune said.

"Do you need to be treated?" Compa asked.

"I'm moving it now and we shouldn't waste our resources healing me" He said as he moved his hand away from the wound.

His entire arm was now cloaked in a beautiful blue fire, slowly healing him.

"What's that?" Compa asked.

"It's a healing magic" He answered.

"It looks so mystical" Neptune said staring at it curious.

"Why is it fire though, isn't fire meant to hurt you?" IF asked.

"What gives you reason to believe that?" Ryo asked.

"Fire is used to kill and isn't that hot?" IF asked.

"Just because it's fire doesn't mean it's gonna burn you, you can touch it if you want." He said.

Neptune immediately touched the arm, but touched the part where the arrow damaged him.

"Why would you touch that part?" Ryo asked as the fire dissipated.

"I don't see why not though" She replied.

"If you want to touch the fire, go ahead, just don't touch that specific part until it heals" He said as the blue fire lit up again on his entire arm.

"Does that hurt or does it feel weird? Like all mystical" Neptune said

"You can see for yourself" He said as he raised his injured arm, there was a blue fire in his hand.

Neptune obviously just stuck her hand in there not thinking if it was hot or not.

"It's so warm" She said as her hand was in there.

"It doesn't hurt Nep-Nep?" Compa asked.

"Nope, it's just really warm" Neptune said sounding relaxed.

The other two were curious as to what Neptune was saying and tried to touch the fire, but Neptune was hogging it.

"Nep, move your hand, there's not enough space for ours" IF complained.

"Is it not big enough, just wait" Ryo said as he closed his eyes once again and focused, the fire grew big enough for his entire body to be on fire.

"Oh no, Ryo you're on fire" Compa said while looking for water.

"It's okay, it's not hurting me, if you still want to see if it's hot or not, now's your chance" He said.

The three crowded around him, Compa and IF touched his arm where Neptune went for his face.

"What are you doing Neptune?" He asked as he opened his eyes.

"I'm touching your face to see if it's hot there as well" She replied as he noticed something on the back of Neptune's other hand.

"Neptune, you're hurt, one of the arrows must have grazed you" He said.

"Oh, this, it's only a little scratch" She replied.

"You should've told us then" He said as he grabbed her hand with his, the blue fire then healed the scratch, the fire then disappeared and it was gone.

"Um, why are you all looking at me like that?" Ryo asked still holding Neptune's hand.

"That's not fair Nep-Nep, I want to hold hands as well" Compa complained.

"So that's why you were all staring at me" Ryo said as he let go.

"Ryo, don't tell me you're falling for me now are ya?" Neptune asked.

"Not really, we need to keep moving" He responded.

"That's the response you're giving me, you're meant to be shy, avoid eye contact with me and have a red face while struggling to get your words out" Neptune said disappointed by the results.

"I don't know how you could possibly know all that considering that you have amnesia, but I'm not that type of character" He said.

"Compa, if you want to hold hands then you can hold mine" Neptune said to her.

"Okay" She responded as she held hands with her.

"That's the expected reaction, but you're just different" IF said.

"I'm not like that" He said to her.

"I don't see why not, Nep, Compa, are you two finished?" IF asked

"Yep, now let's get a move on" Neptune said as she walked ahead.

"Ryo, let me take a look at your arm" Compa said.

He rolled up his sleeve to show that he was completely fine.

"How is this possible, did the blue fire do this?" Compa asked.

"It did, the blue fire heals me, all I have to do is make it appear on the wound and it heals" He answered.

"Even if that healed you, you should still drink this" Compa said as she offered him a reflex.

"I don't need it, it'd be best if we saved it for when we actually need it instead of wasting it on me"

"Then just keep it Ryo, just in case you do need it" She said.

"Fine, I'll keep it with me just in case" He said as he took the bottle and put it in the magic storage where he kept his unused weapons.

"Ryo, can you use it in battle?" IF asked.

"No, I need to concentrate to be able to use it properly, if I try to use it in battle while I'm fighting, all I will be able to produce is a really pitiful blue fire" He replied

"What if you were in the back, if you weren't attacking or being attacked?" IF asked.

"I could use it in those conditions, but I don't like staying back" He responded.

"What are you all doing back there; I'm already so far ahead of you!" Neptune yelled from afar.

"What is she doing over there?" IF asked.

"Nep-Nep, be careful or else you might trigger another trap!" Compa yelled to her.

"If that does happen then I'll just restart from the last checkpoint!" She yelled back.

"Just stay there and don't move, wait for us to catch up" He said as the three headed over.

"Now that we're all here, let's go and fight monsters" Neptune said as two bees and two bats appeared.

"What a coincidence" Ryo said.

"Finally, some monsters, I got bored of standing around" Neptune said as she took out her blade ready for battle.

Neptune charged up and cut one in half with a horizontal slash, IF just shot one until it died, Compa did the same, Ryo took out his gun.

"Let's test this little gift I received" He said as some dark fire cloaked the gun, he ran up nice and close to the monsters and shot twice, the shots were black.

It went straight through the monster, it was on the floor, bleeding and then it suddenly burst into dark flames, leaving nothing but ashes, the wall behind it had a hole in it.

"Ryo, swap guns with me" Neptune ordered him.

"No way, it's mine and plus, only I can use it" He argued back to her as he put the gun back.

"Yeah, but that's overpowered, it's not right that you have something like that, I should have it"

"You say that, but when I used it before you didn't want it then"

"B-But, I want it and you're not allowed to have something overpowered, it makes you stronger than me" Neptune argued.

"Yeah, right, since you're saying this is overpowered, then what about your HDD, that gives you an edge against monsters, doesn't it?" He asked her.

"I know I'm strong and all, but that's because I'm the main character here" She argued back

"Then you don't need something like a gun to become stronger now do you?" Ryo asked

"Yeah, but still"

"No buts, you have your transformation and I have my gun, I am not swapping with you and not giving you this, do you understand?" Ryo asked.

"Yes" She answered reluctantly as if she just got lectured.

"Let's hurry up, I swear, it feels like we've been in here forever" He said as he started to walk.

As he took a step he felt emotional pain, tears left his eyes as he fell to the floor.

"I knew there was a bloody catch" He said as he could feel it getting worse.

"What do you mean by that Ryo and are you alright?" IF asked.

"What's wrong Ryo?" Compa asked.

"Why are you crying?" Neptune asked.

"I don't know, computer, I need an explanation here" He said still feeling the emotional pain.

"Yes sir, when you used the dark fire for the first time, this is the side effect"

"What the hell, I thought there wasn't any side effects and why does it happen now instead of before" He said on the floor.

"This magic or fire of darkness forces you to face you're deepest, darkest secret, one which you wished never had happened in the first place or one you would like to forget, the reason as to why it happened just now is unknown"

"Thanks for the explanation computer, will this keep happening?" He asked it.

"No, this will only happen this one time, any other side effects are unknown" It responded.

"Are you okay Ryo?" Compa asked.

"Not really" He said as he passed out.

He was on the floor, now passed out.

"Is he gonna be alright?" Neptune asked.

"I don't think he will" IF responded.

"He looks like he's having a horrible nightmare" Compa said as she saw the expression on his face.

"He looks like his in pain" IF said.

"Should we be doing something?" Neptune asked.

"We should let him rest nearby" Compa said as she put him nearby the wall.

He was leaning against the wall, asleep.

"What should we do now?" Neptune asked.

"All we can do now is wait for Ryo to wake up, we can't keep going with someone asleep" IF answered.

"Poor thing, he looks like he's really suffering" Compa said.

"I wonder what he's dreaming about to be in that much pain?" IF asked.

"I don't know, but, did you hear the computer, it said deepest darkest secret, what do you think that means?" Neptune asked as she started poking his face.

"I don't know, I wonder what else he's hiding from us." IF said.

"Do you think, Ryo really some kind of demon lord from the world his from?" Neptune asked.

"Ryo couldn't possibly be like that, he doesn't really seem like a demon lord"

While they were talking, Compa was about to inject him.

"Compa, stop, injecting him will only heal his body, not his mind" IF said.

"I've still got to try, I'm a nurse in training and I have to help those in pain" Compa said.

"Nice speech Compa, you sound so cool" Neptune commented.

"Also, Compa, I'm pretty sure that if he wanted to die, he wouldn't want to die by oversized syringe" IF told her.

"What do you mean? This heals people" Compa said

As she said that Ryo was murmuring something in his sleep.

"No, please, I beg of you, don't show it to me" He begged in his sleep with tears coming out of his closed eyes.

"What do you think his dreaming about?" Neptune asked.

"I don't know, it must be pretty scary considering that he's begging" IF replied.

"He looks like his in pain" Compa commented.

"Could he perhaps be a fugitive from the Basilicoms and is on the run?" Neptune asked.

"Maybe, but the problem right now is that it's taking too long" IF said.

"Is there anything we can do to help him?" Compa asked.

"No, we can't do anything, we don't even know what the problem is in the first place, we can't help right now" IF said.

"No, don't, I don't want to watch them die" He said still dreaming.

"Die" IF said puzzled by his choice of words.

"Now that's just weird" Neptune said.

"That's being rude Nep-Nep, you shouldn't say that about someone having a nightmare" Compa said.

Suddenly, Ryo's body was lit on fire; the fire was black and gave off a weird feeling. This made the three back away from him.

"FIRE!" Neptune yelled out as she was running around affected by the fire.

"Stop drop and roll Nep!" IF yelled out.

"SOMEONE HELP ME, I'M ON FIRE!" She yelled as she was rolling around trying to get rid of the fire now on her.

Compa suddenly poured a bucket of water over Neptune and looked relieved as the fire was put out.

"Are you okay Nep-Nep?" Compa asked.

"My hair isn't black, my clothes are fine and my body parts are still here!" She yelled as if victorious.

The other two were relieved to find that she wasn't hurt.

"I can't believe you were on fire Nep" IF said before sighing.

"Are you hurt?" Compa asked.

"I'm fine now thanks to you" Neptune responded.

They could hear moans of pain which made them remember about their current problem.

"Oh, that's right, Ryo's on fire" IF said calmly.

"He's on fire; shouldn't we put it out then?" Compa asked.

"We probably should put him out" Neptune replied thinking.

"How about on the count of three we splash him with water?" Neptune said after thinking.

"Fine, that fire is probably killing him right now" IF said.

"Okay, we need to do this quickly" Compa said.

They were getting ready and had somehow gotten a bucket each full of water.

"One, two, three!" They yelled as they splashed him with water.

All the water hit him, but it evaporated and made some steam which engulfed Ryo, the three couldn't see him at all, all they could see was a lot of steam.

"Isn't that meant to work, you know, putting out fire with water?" Neptune asked.

"It should" IF responded.

"Did we do something wrong?" Compa asked.

"Maybe we it's because we don't have enough water?" Neptune asked.

"That's not possible, that much water should be able to put this out, it worked on you" IF said.

"Should we use something else?" Compa asked.

"Like what, water's meant to work on fire" IF said.

"You think he's alright?" Neptune asked as she walked into the steam.

"NO, I SAID STOP!" A voice yelled as something head-butted Neptune.

"Ow, what was that for?" Neptune asked as she stepped back.

"Neptune, is that you?" He asked not able to see.

"Of course it's me, who else do you know that is this cute?" Neptune asked.

"Funny, I can't exactly tell if I'm talking to Neptune the Black Hole or Neptune, the weirdest person I've ever met in my life" He said as he waved his hand around to clear it away.

"I'm neither, I'm Neptune, saviour of the world" she proclaimed.

"You haven't exactly saved the world yet" He said as they could see him a bit more clearly.

As they regained sight of him they noticed something black and though it was fire.

"Compa, get ready to put out the fire" IF ordered her.

"Okay" Compa responded.

"One, two, three" The two counted as they threw water.

"Not onto me guys, onto him" Neptune said panicking as the water headed in her direction.

"What the hell is with the counting?" Ryo asked as the two were soaked with water.

The steam cleared to find that Ryo was soaked from head to toe just like Neptune.

"Can I ask as to why I'm suddenly wet?" Ryo asked.

"Why'd you guys splash me too, couldn't you have warned me?" Neptune asked.

"Sorry, we though Ryo was on fire" Compa responded as she was hurrying to the two.

"My bad Ryo, I thought I saw you on fire" IF apologized.

"That didn't really sound that sincere, but it doesn't matter" He said still soaked.

"Now I'm all wet and cold" Neptune complained.

"Suck it up Nep, its only water" IF told her.

"But still, why couldn't you just pour water on Ryo?" She asked them.

"We panicked" Compa answered.

"Come on Nep, enough with the complaints, Ryo here isn't complaining" IF said as Ryo's body was on fire.

The three too a glance and were about to pour water on him again.

"Stop, don't do it again, I'm already wet enough" Ryo said stopping them.

"Then why are you on fire?" Neptune asked.

"I was splashed with water and I am now drying myself off, what else" He replied.

"That's no fair, you get to dry off while I stay wet" She complained.

"Stop complaining Neptune, you'll be dry in no time" He said.

"Then you won't mind if I borrow your fire will you?" Neptune asked as she stood close to Ryo.

"Is there a point in asking if you're going to do it anyway?" Ryo asked her.

"Just let her become dry Ryo" IF told him.

"Fine" He replied.

"Ryo, what happened to you?" Compa asked.

"What happened, I was dreaming I think" He answered.

"Well that's true, you were murmuring in your sleep and you accidently set fire to Nep" IF said.

"Do you have anything to say to me Ryo?" Neptune asked.

"Oh, I think I did hear someone screaming something about fire, was that you?" He asked her.

"Yes it was, you randomly turned on your dark fire and it set me on fire" Neptune said as she was still drying.

"Sorry about that" He said while thinking about the dark fire.

"Ryo, one of the things you said were that you didn't want to watch them die, what do you mean?" IF asked, as she asked Ryo's eyes changed, they had a different look in them, one without life.

"That dream I had is fresh in my mind, I remember it so clearly, you should know what I meant when I said those words" He replied looking away.

"Ryo, is it your deepest darkest secret, are you by chance a demon lord?" Neptune asked not grasping how serious the situation was.

"No, I'm not a demon lord" He replied as the fire around him disappeared.

"Why'd you turn off the fire, I'm still a bit wet, turn it back on" Neptune ordered.

"You'll be fine, you can't get sick anyways" he told her.

"And how would you know that?" Neptune asked.

"You have too much energy to get sick and that's a good thing" He said.

"Back to the topic at hand Ryo, I need to know what you mean, I couldn't possibly know what you meant" IF said.

"Does it have anything to do with your deepest darkest secret?" Compa asked.

"Are you perhaps some evil being?" Neptune asked.

"Who knows if I'm evil or not, for now all of you need to duck" He said as he pulled out his gun aiming it.

"Duck, what do you mean duck?" Neptune asked as the other two got down.

"As in get down now or else that monster there is going to hit you" He said as she got down, his gun was now cloaked in normal fire, he pulled the trigger where a red bullet came out which looked like a small flame and went through the bat.

"Did they sneak up on us while we were resting?" IF asked as she got into a fighting position.

"Are we going to be alright?" Compa asked.

"We're going to be fine Compa, it's only a few bees and bats" Neptune said comforting her.

"There are five each, not including the one I just shot" He said as he took aim.

Compa took a shot and when it hit, a small fire was produced when it hit one.

"Compa, why is there fire?" He asked her.

"I'm using a fire bullet, it was a drop we gained after we defeated the Guard Vermin" She answered

"Fire bullet?" He asked in confusion.

"It's this" She said as she took out a red bullet.

"So this is a fire bullet" He said as she gave it to him.

"You put it in your gun and your shots will have elemental damage depending on the type of bullet you have in there" She explained.

"Thanks, computer, how do I put this in?" He asked it.

"Scans indicate that is a fire bullet, do you wish to add it?" It asked him.

"Of course I do" he answered.

"Please wait a moment" It said as the gun was starting to shine red.

As it was shining red, it changed form and turned into a blood red revolver with some flame patterns on the barrel. The barrel of the gun was fifteen centimetres and was unusual. Above the barrel was a small sight and was more like a small line. The chamber for the bullets slid out the side and had five slots for bullets, there was only one in there and it was white.

"Nice, do I put the bullet in here?" He asked as Compa was staring at his weapon.

"Yes, please insert the bullet in one of the slots and wait" It said.

He did as he was told and inserted it and popped it back into the gun. There was something new being added to his HDD and was a circle with two bullets, one was white and the other was red.

"Whenever you find another elemental bullet, please insert into an empty slot" It said.

"Is there anything else I need" He said as he cloaked it with fire.

"There is one more thing" It said as two words appeared under the circle, they said piercing and explosive, piercing was selected.

"When you use magic on the weapon, you will be able to pick one of these options, to change options, all you have to do is think about it" It explained.

"Thank you, should we help the other two?" He asked her.

"Okay" She replied.

The two turned to look over and saw that there was only two bats and bees left, Neptune and IF had lost some of their health according to their HP bars. They were standing there with two to face each.

"Neptune! If you don't move I'm going to shoot you!" Ryo yelled out.

"Don't shoot me, shoot them!" Neptune yelled as she ran out of the way.

He took aim with the small sight he had and shot with the gun cloaked in fire. He pulled the trigger with it set on explosive.

"What the hell is with this recoil?" He asked as his hands went up because of the force the recoil gave him.

The shot flew by the monsters and behind them was a small explosion which shook the cave a bit, the focus of the monsters shifted to Ryo

"What are you doing Ryo that was way off; I can aim better than that!" Neptune yelled from a distance.

"Shut up Neptune!" Ryo yelled back as he changed to piercing.

"Computer, can you give me a better sight than this?" He asked it.

"As you command" It said as a holographic circle with a dot in the middle appeared above the chamber of the gun.

He took aim this time and shot, this time it went straight through and the recoil was small, he took aim at the other one until it fell at someone else's attack.

"Good shot Ryo, I didn't think you would be able to hit that one" Neptune teased as she came over.

"Are you two finally done?" IF asked them with Compa.

"Did you two already finish?" Neptune asked.

"We've been done for a while now, Compa helped a lot compared to the shot's Ryo was doing" IF said.

"Thanks Iffy, also, there's also the grand bullet" Compa said as she handed him the bullet and then it was added.

"You were already done, we would've finished faster if Ryo was a better shot" Neptune said.

"Hey, the recoil of that explosive shot is really strong, computer, are they allowed to use you as long as I allow it?" He asked it.

"Yes sir, as long as they have your permission it is allowed"

"Why'd you do that?" IF asked.

"Does this mean it has to give us a DNA scan as well?" Compa asked scared of the pain.

"No you do not, the DNA scan is only to confirm who the user is" It answered.

"Computer, since it was that easy to allow other people to use it, what's the point of having a user?" He asked it.

"This is to ensure that only the allies of the user and the person themselves are allowed to use it, it was also made to ensure that your opponents couldn't use it" It explained.

"Okay, Neptune, since you want to know why, this will explain as to why I'm such a lousy shot" He said as he handed Neptune the gun.

"Don't make excuses Ryo, all that matters is that we won" Neptune told as Neptune took hold of the gun.

"Please aim at that rock over there" He said as he cloaked it in fire, it was set to explosive.

"Is this going to set me on fire?" Neptune asked with caution

"Don't worry, it won't hurt you unless I want it to, now please aim at that rock over there which is about ten metres away" He said.

"Oh, is that it, Ryo, just because the recoil is too much for you to handle doesn't mean that you're a lousy shot" Neptune said as she took aim.

"Then if you could please demonstrate that this gun is really easy to use and be careful" He said

"Okay, rock, prepare to meet your doom" She told to the rock.

She pulled the trigger, the gun flew out of her hands and the shot was of target and made an explosion a bit to the left of the rock, Neptune fell back with Ryo stopping her with one hand and catching the gun with the other.

"I even told you to be careful, I didn't expect the gun to fly out of your hands" He said as he put it back in the holster.

"Good job Ryo, you caught two things at once, a wild Neptune and your ferocious weapon" IF said.

"Congratulations" Compa said to him.

"I don't think that's something I'm meant to be congratulated on" he said as Neptune was back on her feet.

"I'm not some wild animal" Neptune told them.

"Are you sure, well whatever, let's get out of here, I feel like we've been here for days" IF said as the group started going through the dungeon.

They had finally left the dungeon and were finally in Lastation

"Wow, this place is all steampunky and spiffy and futuristic! Iffy, which landmass is this?" Neptune asked.

"Lastation, ruled by the Console Patron Unit Black Heart. The land is mostly obscured by industrial factories." IF said.

"So there isn't going to be much plant-life around here then" Ryo said as he was trying to get used to it.

"No there isn't, what's wrong Ryo?" IF asked.

"This place smells weird and not the good kind of weird" Ryo said.

"I guess, out of the four landmasses Lastation is the only one that looks this industrialised" IF said

"So, um, does the 'theme' of each landmass match with that goddess' preference?" Neptune asked.

"I don't think so. The CPUs are here to protect us, but humans develop the civilisation itself."

"Aw, that's so realistic. Compa, what're your thoughts on this place?" Neptune asked

"These factories and chimneys… remind me of an industrial revolution. I'm not familiar with this kind of thing."

"I suppose it's not appealing to mainstream girls. I think it's cool. Anyway, let's go to the Basilicom."

They headed in and Neptune asked "Um, 'scuse me! I wanna get some information on monsters. May I come in?"

"Monsters? What're you going to do with this information?" The man asked.

"We're searching for an item called a Key Fragment. We must defeat a strong monster to get one."

"Defeat monsters? Don't be so foolish. Even the Lastation Defence Force doesn't stand a force against them."

"You're nothing more than children. Go home!"

As Compa was about to speak, Ryo stepped up and spoke in a serious and confident tone "Don't judge us by our appearances, just because the Lastation Defence Force is weak, don't compare us to them"

Compa added "Nep-Nep here can transform and become really super strong. We'll show you!"

"Dammit Compa, don't say that" Ryo said.

"Transform? What're you rambling about? If you want to play magical girls, go elsewhere. You're a distraction. Also, kid, don't talk as if you're stronger than them, you shouldn't say things like that if you don't have anything to back it up."

"…This Basilicom is a bit arrogant. Shows what kind of leader Black Heart is when you meet the people who serve her."

"We're not like those who suck up to Black Heart! I don't care what people say, but don't confuse us for them. You brats better scram already, or I'm going to have to hurt you!"

"Oh? Have you even seen our stats? We're probably way stronger than you!"

"We should be saying that, not you" Ryo said.

"Don't bring that up to an NPC. Let's just come back later. We can't waste time."

"Fine then, let's go" Ryo said.

"What should we do now? We couldn't even get inside the Basilicom…" Compa said

"He didn't hafta be such a party-pooper. I guess people are different everywhere… Sometimes the world is cruel. Neptune said

"Did you hear the way he was talking? He really crossed the line talking about their CPU like that." IF said.

"Hmm, maybe we should ask around about monsters in town." Neptune said

"Good idea. It may take longer, but we just got here and we don't know much about Lastation yet. This is just the beginning. Let's take our time, explore and learn!" Compa says.

"We've got a problem though" Ryo said.

"And what would that be?" Neptune asked.

"What could we be forgetting?" Compa asked.

"We need a place to stay, luckily I know a place" IF said.

"Where is it, is it some a big hotel?" Neptune asked.

"It is sort of big, for now just follow me" IF said with the group following her.

The group followed her to a three storey building with a sign that had three stars on it.

"Isn't his place a little out of our price range?" Ryo asked.

"No, I know the guy, he owes me a favour for something I helped him with way back" IF replied.

"Were you some kind of mercenary that took care of problems?" Neptune asked.

"I'm sort of curious as to what you did" Ryo said.

"The less you three know the better" IF said as they went into the lobby.

"Miss IF, what are you doing here?" A silhouette shaped man asked as he walked up.

"I need a few rooms right now" She replied.

"Of course, right away, what will you need?" The man asked.

"I'll need three rooms, one for myself, and one for him and one for those two girls" She answered.

"Hey, Neptune, what do you think IF did to get something as good as this?" He whispered.

"I don't know, but she must have like fended off monsters from attacking this place" She whispered back.

"What about you Compa, what do you think she did?" He asked her.

"Oh, well I think that she must have helped them when they were in a financial crisis" She answered.

"Compa, don't you think that Iffy did something else to get this?" Neptune asked her.

"No, Iffy is a good person and she would help anyone in need" She answered.

"Um, Compa, do you believe that most people are good?" Ryo asked her.

"Of course I do, why wouldn't they be?" Compa asked him back.

"Nothing, I just wanted to know what you thought" He replied.

"You three, are you done gossiping?" IF asked them.

"Yep, we're done" Neptune answered.

"Iffy, what were you talking about?" Compa asked.

"Stuff that's too boring to talk about, Nep, Compa, you two are staying in the same room where Ryo and I will get our own rooms" IF explained to them.

"Why aren't you in the same room with is Iffy?" Compa asked.

"Yeah Iffy, why aren't you, we could talk for hours and hours about things" Neptune said.

"That's why, look, it's already late, let's just get some sleep, here, keep these with you, if you lose them or get locked out of your room , just go to the receptionist and ask for another" IF explained as she gave them the keys to their rooms.

They all went to their rooms, Ryo went to sleep thinking about what the dark fire did, IF went to bed with the thoughts of Ryo's secret and Compa and Neptune stayed up for who knows how long talking.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

In the middle of the night, Ryo was woken up by a figure and was dazed by the light being turned on so suddenly.

"Get up, I need to talk to you about something" The figure said as he was still dazed by the light.

"Huh, can't I have five more minutes of sleep?" Ryo asked as he cuddled up in his bed.

"No, now get up already!" The voice yelled as she took the blanket off.

"Why do you want to interrupt my sleep? Go wake up someone else" He asked as he sat up to take a look.

"That's because I need to talk to you!" The voice yelled again

"IF, what are you doing at… 3 in the morning?" Ryo asked as he took a look at the time.

"I have some questions for you" She told him.

"Can't this wait, I'm pretty sure the other two are asleep right now" He said as he tried to go back to sleep.

"Don't go back to sleep!" She yelled as she took out her weapons and pointed them at him.

"YES MA'AM" He yelled as he got back up.

"You're as weird as Nep" She said before sighing.

"Think whatever you want" He told her as he picked the blanket off the floor and was sitting on the bed with it wrapped around him.

"Back to the main topic, I have some questions that need answering" She said.

"Is this possibly related to the plot?" Ryo asked.

"I don't think so" She replied.

"Then let's not waste the reader's valuable time and go back to sleep" He said with a yawn.

"Who cares about that right now, I need you to answer my questions" IF told him.

"I already know what you're going to ask, you wanna know about my secret right and you can't trust me until you know, am I correct?" Ryo asked with a serious expression.

"How do you know?" IF asked.

"In this party, you're the only one who has actually given a normal reaction which was you saw me as dangerous when you found out I'm not from here from the computer in my gun" He explained.

IF took a step back when she heard this, she looked ready to fight and took a look to see that he wasn't equipped.

"You know, you're exactly right, I don't see you as safe right now" IF said ready to fight.

"Look, I could care less about fighting right now, but if pointing a weapon at me will help calm you down, then go ahead" He told her as he got up.

"I guess I will, don't do anything suspicious or else I'll attack" She warned him as she took out her weapons.

"IF, don't bother making threats or warnings, they won't work" He told her.

"And why is that?" IF asked.

"I've been to war, I've seen a hell known as the battlefield" He told her as he started walking up to her.

"Don't move or else I might shoot" She warned him again.

"Are you really going to shoot me or is that an empty threat, I can see the look of fear in your eyes, you've never had to take another human life before now have you" He told her as he moved her arm upwards.

"What are you doing?" IF asked as her arm was moved up, she had her Qatar's equipped, as he stopped moving her arm, it was now pointed at his head.

"Now, if you want to start going crazy, then shoot me" He said with the Qatar pointed at his face.

After a moment that felt like an eternity, IF put her weapons away.

"What the hell Ryo? You were in danger there" IF told him.

"I knew it'd be fine, you wouldn't shoot another human being unless the circumstances were different" He told her.

"I wouldn't shoot another human in any circumstance" IF argued.

"You'd be surprised at what people would do when faced with a life and death situation" Ryo told her.

"Also, what do you mean by going crazy?" IF asked.

"I don't see how you don't understand, when a human kills another human, they start to go crazy and lose their mind if no one is there to help" He explained.

"Are you one of those people?" IF asked.

"Hey, did you just call me crazy?" Ryo asked jokingly.

"Considering everything I've seen you do, yes I am calling you crazy" IF answered.

"I can't argue with that, do you want a drink?" He asked as he went over to the kitchen.

"Depends, are you going to poison me or something?" IF asked.

"Please, could you stop being so suspicious, I figured after I scared you, I thought you might have wanted a drink of water" He said as he came back with two glasses full of water.

"I wasn't scared" IF told him.

"Say that all you want, you were scared for your life, you were probably thinking that you might have had to shoot, or that I might have actually attacked and killed you" He told her as he offered her a glass.

She just stared at him and the glass.

"Please don't read my mind Ryo, does that have…" IF asked before pausing.

"I can' believe you would actually think that I would poison you, how mean, that sort of hurts a bit" He said jokingly before taking a sip from both.

"Then don't give me reasons to not trust you" IF told him as she took a glass.

"I don't really care if you trust me or not, I mean, that's probably my fault, but it doesn't matter" He said.

"You don't care if I trust you or not, are you crazy?" IF asked him.

"Who knows, only time will tell" He replied as he drank.

"I might stab you in the back; are you sure you don't care?" IF asked.

"No, not really" He replied sounding relaxed

"How can you be so relaxed at hearing me stab you in the back, it's even scaring me!" IF yelled as she swung the glass and made water fly out and hit the bed.

"What did you do that for, now I can't sleep on it" He said as he took a look.

"We have more serious problems at hand then the bed, if it's wet then use your fire to dry it" IF told him.

"If I do, I might set this entire place on fire and I don't just mean this room, it might get out of control and this entire building might be engulfed in fire" He explained.

"As I said, we have bigger problems at hand here!" She yelled again.

"You flung all the water out of the glass, here, drink up" He told her as he offered up his.

"B-But" IF said stuttering.

"Give me the empty glass and drink the water, you need to calm down or you might wake up everyone in Lastation" He told her.

"I am not going to wake up everyone in Lastation" She said as she drank the water and handed over the empty one.

"Are you now calm and ready to talk?" He asked.

"Yeah, I can talk now" She replied as she finished up her water.

"You know, I've got a question now, why couldn't you have done this during the day, why do you have to do it in the middle of the night?" Ryo asked as he yawned.

"Oh, um… that's because I" She said before going she started to mutter.

"I can't hear you, you have to speak up" He told her.

"I… didn't want the others to know" She said after a pause.

"Oh, so you don't want Neptune making fun of you, so, why were you here, we've wasted around 1000 words of the two of us fooling around" He said.

"That was you" IF told him.

"Don't care, hurry up and do whatever you wanted to do already" He ordered her.

"Oh, right, I want to know you're dark secret" IF said.

"Anything else you wanna know?" He asked with an empty look in his eyes.

"And an explanation about the war thing" IF said.

"Fine, just know that you are to never mention this to anybody ever, it's something I don't like to bring up nor do I want you telling other people about it unless I say you can, do you accept these conditions?" He asked her.

"Yeah I accept, it's not like I'm going to share it with anyone, I need to know or else I can't trust you" She replied.

"Then take a seat" He said as he sat on a chair.

"I can't see how you can be so relaxed right now" She said as she sat in front of him.

"Oh, any questions you have are to be asked at the end" He told her.

"Just get on with it" IF said annoyed as to how much time they've wasted.

"Fine, I lived in another world, a world that was the same in some ways, and different in others, the place I lived in was in Planeptune, we were at war with demons. Planeptune was one of four major Kingdoms, these are the landmasses which people live on in this world, and they are Planeptune, Lastation, Lowee and Leanbox"

"Planeptune?! You lived there?" She asked in surprise.

"I said at the end. Next is that the leaders of these Kingdoms were the Console Patrol units or CPUs, they were seen as the leaders, although I wonder if they're the same as this world's Goddess'" He said wondering.

"Keep on going with the story Ryo" IF told him.

"Okay, next, if the Kingdoms weren't at war with the demons then they probably would've been at war with each other, they were never on good terms with each other, now, onto my secret" He said.

"That was too quick, what was the point of that?" IF asked.

"I had to summarise stuff, anyway the secret is that, one day, I was out with some other soldiers on a mission, when I come back, I find that everyone was… dead" He said after pausing.

"I saw the corpses of people I knew, monsters were running around and in that moment, some soldiers ran, others fought them like me with the exact same thoughts of revenge. After all the monsters were killed, I was still thinking about revenge and went to the demon lord's stronghold and killed them all, including the demon lord"

"Then isn't that a good thing?" IF asked confused as to why.

"If it's a good thing, then tell me, what do you think of when I say demon?" He asked.

She sat there in thought and was about to say until interrupted.

"In your thoughts, did the thought that they're just like us pop up once, that they have intelligence, emotions, family, friends, they are able to grieve over the dead and are not just mindless beasts of destruction" He told her.

"I'm sorry Ryo, I didn't think of it like that" She apologised.

"Don't worry about it, I used to think like that as well until yesterday, when I killed the demon lord, he transferred a bit of his magic into me, which was his conscience or mind, well, what was left of it"

"He transferred it, how and what did he do?" She asked.

"He talked to me and explained the exact same things to me about demons, you remember the dark fire right?" He asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" She asked.

"The demon lord gave the magic to me"

"Why, what was the catch?" She asked.

"I asked the exact same thing, the thing is that after this adventure or something, I plan to go back one day and complete the quest he has given me"

"Don't you think that it could be trap to kill you?" IF asked.

"Does it matter, I plan to go back one day and complete the quest"

"What was the quest?" IF asked.

"Sorry, but that's confidential information and I can't tell you" He told her.

"Wait, that's no fair, why won't you?" She asked him.

"I don't want to reveal all of my secrets to you, it's only chapter 5, I'll tell you some other time, perhaps in another chapter" He told her.

"That's not funny Ryo, just tell me now" She said.

"No, I've told you more than I wanted to" He said.

"Fine, but, if you don't tell me, I'll tell the other two" She said, hoping to get more out of him.

"So you're going with threats now, fine, I'll respond with my own, you tell them and I'll scare you to death" He told her jokingly.

"How can you possibly scare me to death, I'm not like Nep or Compa"

"Then I'll explain something about magic, there are many types, that includes illusion magic"

"What, are you going to put me in a trance, are you going to hypnotise me?" IF asked with disbelief

"Nope, I can't hypnotise you, but if you want to find out what I'll show you, then you can tell the other two" He said seriously

"Wait, are you being serious right now?" IF asked in fear.

"Who knows, do you wish to find out?" He asked while sounding slightly evil.

"I'm fine thanks, I don't want to know what you're illusion magic is nor do I want you using it on me" She said thinking that he was serious.

"Good, the two of us of us should get some sleep now, today is going to be another long day" He said as he took a look at his bed.

"Um, sorry about that" IF said.

"It's fine, I'll just sleep on the floor or something" He said as he took out a spare blanket and pillow and threw them on the floor.

"But, it's my fault so I should do something" IF said thinking about a solution.

"No, it was an accident, now go to your room and sleep" He ordered her.

"I should be the one sleeping on the floor, not you" She argued.

"Don't worry about it, now go and turn off the light when you do" He said as he fell asleep on the ground.

"Is he actually asleep?" IF asked as she took a look.

As she stood over him and observed, she remembers the very weird conversation they had and how calm he was while they talked.

"IF, why are you just staring at me?" He asked as he opened his eyes.

"Were you just waiting for me to do this?" She asked.

"No, IF, are you scared of sleeping in the dark?" He asked, teasing her like a child.

"As if I would be scared of that, what do you take me for?" She asked.

"Someone who won't let me get some sleep for starters" He replied.

"If you want it so bad, you can have it" She angrily said as she stormed out of the room with the door slamming behind her.

He was amused and chuckled a bit before he slept.

"What's with him?" IF asked as she went to her room.

In the morning Ryo was being woken up by Compa.

"Ryo, it's time to get up, it's morning" She said as she shook him.

"Give me five more minutes of sleep" He said.

"No, it's time to wake up and why are you sleeping on the floor?" She asked.

"The floor… oh, that's right, I'm on the floor" He said as he sat up.

"Why were you sleeping on the floor instead of your bed?" Compa asked.

"That's because IF made it wet last night" He told her.

"Huh, so IF is the reason why" She said shocked by what he just said.

"Yep, just go ask her" He told her.

Compa rushed out of the room to tell Neptune.

A few minutes later after he finished getting ready all of them barged into his room.

"What the hell Ryo, what did you tell them?" IF asked with the other two behind.

"You said that IF made it wet last night, what did you two do last night?" Compa asked.

"Did you two try to make babies?" Neptune asked.

"Did you really, does this mean you're pregnant?" Compa asked

"WHAT, NO, WE DIDN'T TRY DOING THAT AND I'M NOT PREGNANT!" IF yelled embarrassed by being asked such questions.

Ryo was just sitting on the bed laughing at her reaction.

"Does this mean that it's going to be rated M now?" Neptune asked

"NO, WHY ARE YOU JUST SITTING THERE LAUGHING?" She asked him.

"Sorry, sorry, it's just too funny" He said as he was holding himself back.

"Is it a boy or a girl? What are you going to name the kid?" Neptune asked.

Ryo was now laughing harder than before and was on his knees.

"Ryo, this is a serious issue, you need to think up of a name for your child" Compa told him.

"I TOLD YOU, I'M NOT PREGNANT" She yelled.

"Alright, I think that's enough for one morning, IF and I didn't try to make babies, she's not pregnant and I'm not a father"

"Then explain how it's wet then" Compa told him.

"IF barged into my room, we talked, she overreacted while she had a glass of water, flung it on my bed and that's why I had to sleep on the floor and why it was wet" He explained as he finished laughing.

"Compa, what did he tell you when you asked why he was on the floor?" IF asked her.

"He said that you made it wet last night" Compa said.

"Did you plan this?" IF asked in anger.

"Maybe" He replied as he avoided eye contact.

"So this was some prank on me, I thought you were meant to be mature" IF said.

"I have no idea how you got that from me of all people, but what's the point in being mature or grown up when you can't act childish sometimes?" He asked

"You sound so wise" Neptune said, impressed by his words.

"Can we just start the day already?" IF asked.

"So, you two had an event last night, why didn't you invite me?" Neptune asked.

"Nep-Nep, I don't think that's something you should be asking" Compa told her.

"But I'm the main character, I should be in all the important events" She argued back.

"It wasn't that important, we were talking about what we were going to do today, right IF?" He asked while lying.

"Yeah, we talked about what we would do today" IF said, going along with it.

"What should we do then?" Compa asked.

"Um" IF said as she stood there in thought.

"We'll go around and see if anyone has any available quests, if there are, we'll accept it and keep the story going" He explained.

"Then let's go" Neptune exclaimed as they all left.

A bit later they went to meet up with their employer.

"Is that her? The person who wants us to fight monsters?" Compa asked.

"Huh? She's kinda small, isn't she? I was thinking, like a… big burly man as president." Neptune commented.

"I would like to know how you possible came up with that mental image?" Ryo asked.

"Well, if I have to explain, we're being expected to fight monsters, so you think some really big and buff guy with really big muscles would be the president with a really deep voice" Neptune explained.

" I still don't get how that came to your mind" He said.

"Oh, she saw us. She's waving at us… She's gotta be the right person." Compa said as they were getting waved at.

"I suppose she's come to the same conclusion about us." IF said.

"…So it's you girls? You're gonna fight the monsters for me? …Are you sure you'll be okay?" The woman shaped silhouette asked.

"And guy" Ryo commented.

"Oh, sorry, didn't see you there, you girls and guy" She said again.

"We all know not to judge books by their covers, right? Nice to meet you. I'm IF. This is Compa, the guy is Ryo, and that's Neptune." IF said.

"My name's Chian. I run a small factory called Passe in the central city."

"We need someone to get rid of the monsters attacking our carriages and train. He looks like he can, but you ladies sure you can handle it?" She asked in concern for their safety.

"You betcha! We know how to fight, so we'll totally be victorious!" Neptune exclaimed.

"I like you. That confidence makes it much easier for me to trust your words." Chian said.

"Thanks, so, where we going to clobber monsters?" Neptune asked.

"You'll be going to the Windy Wasteland to kill 5 cockatrices, they look like big chickens, kill on sight" She told them.

"Chicken!" Neptune said as she thought about something.

"Ryo, are you able to use your fire to cook?" She asked with the look of hunger.

"It can, but I am not going to cook it, Chian, thank you for the information" He said.

"It's no problem" She said.

"Come on, let's get a move on" IF said as the part headed to the dungeon

They entered a cave, despite the naming of the dungeon and had killed the monsters.

"The monsters are so numerous here. Makes things that much more entertaining…!" Neptune said in HDD.

"Nep-Nep, you act so tough in that form. Why do you think there are so many monsters here?" Compa asked.

"Neptune, why can I see stars around your head?" Ryo asked.

"Don't ask me, but how could this be caused by the diminishing power of the CPUs? Do their powers even weaken?" Neptune asked.

"Well, their power comes from the faith of humanity. If monsters keep attacking people, their faith will be shaken. Meaning less protection, more monster attacks, less people, less faith… it's a downward spiral." IF explained.

"So, the question to ask is how much time we have until this goes too far" He said in thought.

"Yeah, if this keeps up, more people will be attacked and the CPUs will eventually become too weak to fight back" IF said.

"That's succinct. So, as more time passes, more monsters will appear."

"I didn't think of it that way, but it makes sense! What do we do?" Compa asked.

"Don't worry. I'm here. Someone told me… I'm the only one who can save the world. I can save it. I'll prove it right now!" Neptune said with confidence.

"She has the same strong sense of justice, but this Nep-Nep is more dependable. I feel comfortable trusting her!" Compa said

"I agree she's an improvement over her casual, laid-back attitude… but am I the only one who can't stand her either way?" IF asked.

"We should get back to Chian now, we don't want to keep her waiting" Neptune said.

"Good idea, Ryo come on, if you don't hurry up, we'll leave you behind" IF told him as she broke his train of thought.

"Oh, we're leaving" He said as he heard her.

"Ryo, hurry up or else we will leave you here" Neptune told him before she changed back.

"I will" He said as he caught up.

"Ryo, what were you thinking about?" Neptune asked.

"I didn't think you would notice of all people" He told her as he was surprised that she knew that.

"Thanks, I'm the main protagonist so I gotta be awesome" She said.

"That last part was completely unnecessary, IF, you said that it's a downward spiral right?" He asked her.

"Yeah, what of it?" She asked him.

"Does this mean we're racing against time, because if we don't save the world in time, too many people will die" He told them

"That's why I'm gonna save it, so don't worry about it" Neptune told him.

"You're not listening to the important part here, if you save the world too late, then all the effort you put in would have been for nothing" He told them.

"Then I'll save the world quickly and I'll get a really big trophy for doing so" She said.

"You have so much confidence Nep-Nep" Compa commented.

"Where do you get all that confidence from?" IF asked.

"Do you really want a trophy?" He asked.

"Or all the lollies, cake and cookies I can eat" She said.

"Do whatever, you'll probably get a freaking huge cake" He told her.

"Oh, really, then I want it to be chocolate" She said.

"Can we head back now?" IF asked.

"Yep" Neptune answered as they headed back.

They came back and were paid 1000 credits.

"I know we just started, but that's sorta dinky for a reward…" Neptune said

"I heard business isn't going well because a major company called Avenir is monopolizing their industry." Compa explained.

"I heard smaller factories are closing down due to Avenir, but I don't think that's the only reason." IF said.

"Monopolizing is bad, right? Then, like, that company is an evil conglomerate!" Neptune said with enthusiasm.

"…Are you going to assault them if I agree with you? We can't just assume a company's bad because they're successful." IF told her.

"But I can't ignore the fact people are suffering cuz of them! If I take down that company, a lotta people would be happy!" Neptune argued with her.

"I don't think 'take down' is the right term. We usually defer to the Basilicom for these issues, not violence." IF said.

"That wouldn't work" Ryo said.

"I don't see why it wouldn't Ryo, if you see three cute girls complain about a company, then they'll surely notice" Neptune said.

"No, that's the problem here, I'm sure a lot of people have already went to the Basilicom about it and yet nothing has changed, so Neptune, you might be right about Avenir being evil" He told her.

"Really, so you think they're evil as well?" Neptune asked with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Maybe, we don't have enough information to determine if that's correct or not" He said.

"Ryo, of all the people to agree with Neptune" IF said.

"We have to take into account that anything is possible, that includes Avenir being evil" He told her.

"See, so we should do something about them" Neptune said.

"If you want to do something then the most you could do right now is go to the Basilicom" IF told them.

"But we were told to leave there just recently. How will we get the Key Fragment or stop Avenir like this?" Compa asked.

"Avenir aside, it'd be bad if our travelling budget ran out because of this horrible economy." IF said.

"Let's keep moving to other landmasses and think about what we can accomplish there." IF said.

"Fine, we won't take Avenir down" Neptune said.

"Neptune, we can't take them down yet" Ryo told her.

"Really, so we can do it?" She asked.

"No, don't even think about it you two" IF told them.

"Don't worry Iffy, he said not yet, saving the world comes first" Neptune told her.

"Do whatever you want" IF said, fed up with arguing.

"Hey, can you four come with me?" Chian asked.

"Sure, but where to?" Neptune asked.

"I'll be taking you guys to my factory home, we need to talk about something important" She said.

"Okay, is it like really big and all the things there are mechanical?" Neptune asked.

"You can find out for yourself, just go to this location" She told them as she went ahead after giving them the information.

"This is Chian's company…?" Neptune asked.

"There you ladies and man are. It's nothing lavish, I know. It's just a small factory." Chian said.

"Oh, we make everything from kitchenware to missiles. Come in. Let's get cozy before we talk" She said as they headed in.

"Sit anywhere you like, this is my home." She said

"Cool! Dibs on the barstool! It's so neat having a restaurant next to your office. You can drink whatever you want!" Neptune said in excitement as she sat on the barstool.

"Yeah, since it's my house. Having one business isn't enough for living expenses, so my mother helps me around here. I really have to get two jobs at Lastation. There's just not enough work since Avenir was established." Chian told them.

"So, Avenir IS bad! Everyone in town, including you, is suffering because of them, right?" Neptune asked.

"Chian, does this mean I can consider people have it a lot worse than you?" Ryo asked.

"Yeah, people out there don't even have jobs and they're not just 'bad!' They took all of our clients… They're monsters!" She said.

"Even the goddess and her Basilicom just turn a blind eye and let them do whatever they want. They'll eventually take over this entire landmass if we don't do anything about it."

"As I suspected! Lastation won't find peace with Avenir around. We gotta defeat them!" Neptune yelled.

"What should we do? It's not gonna be as easy as it sounds. How do we 'defeat' an entire company, anyway?" Compa asked.

"You make missiles; why not just use those to blow them up?" He asked jokingly.

"I would like to do that" Chian said actually thinking about it.

"Whoa, I was just joking, don't use missiles, so you have any idea on how to take down a company?" He asked.

"I do… We won't go down easily without putting up a fight. .Plus, we've got the technology Expo this year." Chian said.

"What's that? Is it like a festival?" Compa asked.

"Oh, you three have never been to Lastation, right? I'm sorry, but can you explain?" IF asked.

"Explaining a worldview or culture can't really be avoided in RPGs. It might be a boring narrative, but bear with me." She told them.

"We're in a fanfic, not the actual RPG" Ryo told her

"Okay, fanfic it is. The Expo takes place in Lastation every four years. Various companies showcase new technologies under a common theme. It's for people to network, or exchange information and skills. The best item gets a trophy from Lastation's CPU!" Chian explained.

"A trophy? What an achievement! So, can we take down Avenir with a trophy?" Compa asked.

"Does this mean we're going to get an achievement for taking them down, if so, is that thing that pops up at the top right of the screen going to appear and what will it be called?" Neptune asked

"Neptune, we're in a fanfic, we can't get those trophies here" He told her.

"I don't' see why not, I really wanted one" She said disappointed

"We'll aim for the goddess. We'll showcase at the Expo, win, and meet with her for a negotiation!" Chian said.

"I see. Then, you've got your work cut out for you. It'll be really tough." Compa said.

"Sure. I need to begin making arrangements. I actually asked you here today to discuss just that." Chian said.

"Nope, we won't cosign any of your loans." Neptune said quickly.

"That was way too quick" Ryo commented.

"Hah! It's not about money. We need to transfer tools and materials, but the monsters are still…"

"We'd risk our lives for a single screw! I'm just warnin' you, but we'll probably be asking for your help more often."

"Ah, I getcha. You want us to make sure you don't get distracted by monsters while prepping for the Expo." Neptune said understanding it.

"You're right! I'm glad you're such a quick little thinker. I'm counting on you." Chian said.

"Leave it to us!" Neptune exclaimed as the group left the factory.

"So Nep, what should we do?" IF asked.

"I dunno" She replied.

"Let's just get a quest, we're going to need some credits" Ryo suggested.

"But that's so boring; can't we do a really epic fight scene between me by myself and a really big monster?" Neptune asked.

"We're going to be fighting a monster either way, what does it matter?" IF asked.

"True, but monsters in quests are so weak" She argued.

"Nep-Nep, the more monsters we defeat, the more people that will be saved" Compa told her.

"Fine, you two can go and get it, I wanna explore this area and look for treasure" Neptune told them.

"Do whatever you want, come on Compa" IF told her.

"Okay, but which one will we pick?" Compa asked.

"I don't know, as long as it isn't above our levels then we'll be fine" IF told her as they left.

"Now it is time to look for treasure" Neptune said.

"Treasure you say, first, do you have any idea where to look?" He asked her.

"Nope, let's try that way" She told him as she pointed in a general direction.

"So you're just gonna wander around and hopefully find a chest right?" He asked.

"Yep, let's hope for the best that we get something cool" She said before they heard a scream.

"Speak of the devil, a monster attack" He said.

"Someone's in trouble, wait right there and don't get eaten, I'll save you right now!" She yelled as they headed towards the scream.

As they arrived they saw lots of monsters in the form of balls, they were wearing hard hats that had a green cross on them, two big eyes, two feet and were apparently somehow holding a pickaxe.

"What the hell, these are the monsters that are attacking people" He said.

"Look at how small they are, they look so cute, they don't even look like they can hurt people" Neptune said.

"Are you sure? Because take a look at that building" He told her.

As they took a look, there was one on each side a small distance from it. They were bringing up their pickaxes and when they brought them down a shockwave was released and was travelling along the ground towards side of the building. The moment they made contact with it, the building was engulfed in an explosion which left nothing but rubble.

"OMG, did you see that? Only two of them did it and the building was like BOOOOOM" Neptune commented.

"I saw, I'm just a bit surprised"

Neptune took a deep breath and yelled "In the name of justice and all that is good, I will defeat you now"

"Do you really need the speech?" He asked.

"Why not, I'm not gonna lose against something so weak" She replied.

The monsters were obviously offended when she said that and all gathered up in a circle. They were performing a little dance.

"What's this, that looks like so much fun or are they using some sort of secret technique" Neptune commented as they were almost finished dancing.

"Let's hope not, I don't want this to be so troublesome"

When they were done, a bright light suddenly enveloped the monsters and blinded the two.

"See, I told you they were using a secret technique" Neptune told him as she shielded her eyes.

"What kind of technique is this and why the hell is a bright light always involved?" He asked.

"Bright lights are always needed, they're needed to make it look cooler" She explained.

"That was rhetorical and didn't need to be answered" He told her as the light died down.

As they recovered from being blinded, all of them were gone and all that remained was a really huge one that was about three times their size and was very far away.

"All you did was fucking fusion, you're just bigger, and you have no new features whatsoever" He yelled in anger, expecting something more.

"Fusion, how did they do it? Was it because of the dance? How much stronger did it get?" Neptune asked.

"It doesn't matter, let's just kill this monster already" He told her.

The thing raised its pickaxe as it heard this and brought it down, the moment it hit the ground, a huge shockwave was flying towards them.

"Hey, no fair, you have to wait until we're ready" She yelled as she ran out of the way.

"Then transform or something" He told her.

"Oh, that's right, I can transform" She said as she got ready.

"You ready for this" It said and then "Program execution"

Some disks were spinning around her and she picked one out and yelled "Transform" as a light enveloped her.

She was in her plug suit but it wasn't coloured at all, but the very same armour was going around her, they equipped onto her feet first, her waist, shoulder, big butterfly wings equipped on her back and then finally the last equipped to her head. She then flipped and did a pose as her plug suit changed to a black and purple colour.

"There was a transformation sequence?" He asked.

"Of course there was, I just had to skip it before, it would have taken too long" She told him monster stood there.

"Um, okay then, has the monster just been waiting?" He asked.

"Of course it has, you're not allowed to attack when someone's transforming" She explained.

"What a weird rule" He said as he drew his weapons.

"Still, why did I have to transform for this?" She asked.

"You of all people are asking that, I thought you would be jumping for joy at the thought of transforming"

"I see no point when all I'll be doing is slicing junk" She told him.

The monster was obviously offended by this statement and more pickaxes appeared around its body.

"Neptune, don't insult the supercharged monster anymore" He told her.

"I wasn't insulting it, I was stating the truth" She said.

The thing had lined up the pickaxes in a line and were all facing the two. It was ready to strike.

"Dammit Neptune, look at what you did"

"But they're easy to dodge from what I've seen; all you have to do is fly up to dodge"

"I can't fly, you do know that right?" He asked.

"But you showed us before, you weren't touching the ground"

"I can only hover above surfaces and use it for other stuff; my magic isn't good enough for me to fly"

"Then do I need to carry you?" She asked

"No, if it comes down to it, I'll find a way to dodge" He said as he looked around.

"Then good luck with dodging" She said as she flew up.

The pickaxes finally came down, the shockwaves when looked at from above by Neptune, they looked like arrows travelling across the ground and they were pretty big. When looked at from Ryo's point of view, it looked like a really big wave which should be avoided at all costs, but it was moving slower than the smaller strikes.

"Oh shit, maybe I should've taken Neptune up on her offer" He thought as he looked around for a way out.

"Ryo!" Neptune yelled as she spotted something

"What is it Neptune? I'm sort of busy"

"There are two people in danger over there, we need to hurry up and save them" She pointed out as she flew towards them.

"What, there are still civilians here, Neptune, take care of the monster, I'll go and save those two" He yelled.

"What if you don't make it in time?" She asked.

"I won't fail, I can assure you of that" He yelled as he put his weapons back.

"But how do you know that?" She asked.

"Because I can see into the future, now stop asking questions and kill that bloody monster" He ordered as he ran towards the children.

"You don't have to be so rude" She said as she switched directions.

"Finally, if she kept watching, that would've ruined the surprise for later" He murmured under his breath as his entire body was on fire.

He was moving a bit faster and was going to reach them with time to spare "Thought that big shockwave would be faster" He thought as he looked back.

"Are you two okay?" He asked as he arrived to find that it was a teenage boy and girl

"No, both of us have sprained our ankles, are you a part of the Lastation defence force?" The man asked.

"No, do I look like one of them; it's strange how they aren't here yet. Anyway, why didn't you just carry her?" Ryo asked.

"Well, we were helping getting everyone out" The girl answered.

"A saint huh, so, guy, is this your girlfriend?"

"Huh, what no, we're just friends" The guy answered as both of them were blushing.

"What about you, if you stay here, won't you be killed?" The girl asked in concern for his safety

"That's easy to criticise, if I die, it's not gonna be against such a pathetic looking boss monster" He jokingly said.

"Do you really have any time to waste right now?" The man asked as he noticed the shockwave tsunami was coming closer.

"Of course I do, the time doesn't make my decisions for me, I do" He said.

"Now is not the time to make jokes, if you can't save us then run!" The woman yelled at him.

"Relax, I do plan on saving you, but I can't outrun that if I'm trying to carry two people"

"Then just get her safe, it doesn't matter what happens to me" The guy said.

"Noble action, but I don't plan on leaving either of you here, the two of you can just relax, I'm gonna save the two of you now" He said as he turned around and was facing it.

"What do you plan on doing? You can't possibly push it back let alone stop it" The girl told him.

"Just shut up and watch" He told them as he pulled out his sword and held it with two hands and was bringing it up ready to swing.

"Hmm, should I name this?" He asked them.

"Does it matter, if you're going to do something then do it" The guy yelled.

"Don't have to yell, for now…" He paused and took a deep breath and said "Flame Tsunami" as he swung down and hit the ground.

A gigantic flame rose up from the ground which was stricken and a tsunami of fire was heading towards the shockwave which was the same size. The two were heading towards each other and when they made contact, it was a struggle as the two were evenly matched, it kept moving back and forth.

"You actually stopped it, but, how long will that last?" The girl asked.

"Not very long" He said as he brought his blade up once more "Let's try that again"

He brought it down and another one joined the clash, but something was going to happen.

"You two get down and cover your ears" He said as he brought his hands forward and made a sphere around them of fire.

The two watched as an explosion occurred from the two forces behind the flame sphere while covering their ears to stop the sound from turning them deaf, after the explosion, there was a mushroom cloud. Although all of their ears were ringing and the flame shield died down as a drop of sweat could be seen falling from Ryo. They tried to speak, but all of their ears were ringing. The two civilians passed out and couldn't take much more.

Meanwhile all this was happening Neptune was fighting the gigantic monster.

"Hey monster, in the name of Justice and all that is good, I will stop you here and now" She told it as she swung down on its helmet.

The monster just responded with a growl and swung all of the pickaxes at Neptune. She was forced to deflect three with her blade and dodge another two. She swung down once more onto the hard hat, but it did nothing.

"What's with the hard hat? I can't cut it" She thought as she was about to try a different approach until she noticed something red out of the corner of her eye and she turned to look.

As she was distracted, a pickaxe landed a hit on her and the monster was apparently mocking her, just staring at her.

"What are you so happy about? Just because you landed one hit doesn't mean you've won" Neptune told it.

This time, Neptune went of the unguarded bit, but couldn't get near it as the pickaxes were spinning around the monster quickly, stopping her from attacking that specific part. She then decided to try the hard hat again as the other bit couldn't be attacked. She tried but no damage would get through and in that moment the pickaxes would attack and she would dodge. They repeated this cycle until something happened in the area Ryo was in. A huge explosion which looked like a mushroom cloud, Neptune and the monster had slowed down, they were still fighting, but had just slowed down to look.

Neptune saw Ryo looking tired and standing there with blade in hand.

"Was that explosion because of him?" She asked herself.

Ryo was now on one knee and using the blade as support.

"Hey monster" She asked, the monster just looked at her as a response.

"Time out" She said making a sign of a T with her hands, the monster weirdly obliged and nodded.

She flew over to Ryo and asked "What happened here? Why was there an explosion?"

"Sorry, Neptune, I can barely hear you right now, that explosion made my ears ring, but the civilians are safe, I took the force of the big bang" He told her

"What do you mean you took the force of the big bang?" She asked.

"Neptune, just give me a second, my hearing is coming back" He told her as he put a hand to his ear.

"Can you hear the words that are coming out of my mouth?" She yelled.

"Yeah, I can, so, why is the monster just standing there? Why hasn't the bloody Lastation Defence Force here yet? And why are we just standing here talking?" he asked.

"I called a time out, I don't know about the Lastation defence force and we are talking because you said you took the force of the big bang, how do you take the force of the big bang?" She asked.

"Do I have to explain?"

"Yes, you do"

"I put up a flame sphere around me and the civilians, any damage they would've taken is given to me instead" He explained.

"Then how is it you're still alive?"

"I don't know and I don't really care, what matters is that these two lovebirds are alive and so are we"

"Lovebirds, are these two a couple?" She asked.

"Not yet, but after this I think they will be, for now, let's kill the monster and get back to IF and Compa" He said as he noticed something on the ground.

"A disk, what's a broken disk doing here of all places" He thought.

"I have two more questions" Neptune said.

"Then ask, but I can't say I'll answer"

"Did you cause the explosion?" She asked.

"Nope, there was some rubble in the shockwave tsunami's way and the moment it hit, there was an explosion" He lied.

"If you can see into the future, then do you know what we're meant to do next?" She asked with a small amount of excitement in her voice.

"I lied; it was so you wouldn't keep asking me what if when I was going to save them"

"I see, then let's take this out then" She told him as the two charged the monster.

"Oh, also the hard hat is practically invincible" Neptune told him.

"Why don't you tell me these things beforehand?"

"Because I forgot" She said as the two were attacked, most of the attacks were focused on Neptune as Ryo was struggling to keep up.

"Shit, that really caused a lot of damage, I'm having trouble keeping up with Neptune and I might get killed by this pathetic boss" He thought.

"Ryo, what are you doing? I knew it, you can't fight in your current condition" She told him as she was dodging.

"Guess you're right, I don't want to get killed by this of all things" He thought as he was about to turn around, something stopped him.

"Coward, are you scared?" A voice asked.

"Oh no, not again, why can't this shit ever happen to someone else?" He asked himself.

"Ryo, if you're too weak to fight then run, do it now" Neptune ordered him as his world went dark.

He was still standing there, but wasn't moving at all.

"What is he doing, at this rate he'll die" She thought as she picked him up and moved him to a nearby building that had yet to be destroyed.

She went back to the battle, but had the exact same problem as before and all she could do is keep going until someone could help her.

Meanwhile in a certain person's mind, Ryo was standing there while in front of him stood a girl he once knew. She had long white hair and was wearing a cloak that covered her whole body except her head.

"Akari, why are you here?" He asked her.

"I'm not Akari, I am the fire of darkness" She answered

"Then maybe you should've picked someone else, maybe someone that has dark hair, or someone that doesn't practically have light magic, or someone that doesn't have a name that literally means light"

"Just be quiet and go along with it okay"

"You even act like her for God's sake, so why are you here?" He asked the fake.

"I am here because you're scared"

"Scared, is that it, you're here because I'm scared, that's not gonna work, I'm probably gonna fear for my life a lot from now on"

"Not that kind of scared you idiot, you're not scared of being hit, but you're scared that you'll kill others and you're scared of me" She said.

"Okay, one, that's true, I'm scared of killing people, but monsters are monsters, if they try to kill me and die trying, that's their problem or if I'm killing some mindless beast of destruction, second, when you say scared, do you mean Akari or the weird ghost thing?" He asked.

"Stop acting so smart, you already know what I'm talking about" She yelled.

"You're afraid of the fire, the dark fire, not once have you used it after the first use" She told him.

"Well no shit, I'm trying to avoid using it, don't you remember what you did to me the first time I used it, you put me through my own personal hell" He yelled.

"That was to help you move on; I was given to you by the demon lord to help you in more ways than one"

"And what the hell would those be, to make me watch things I'd rather forget, to deal me pain, is this some sort of cheap revenge?" He asked.

"No, but if you don't insist on using me and helping you move on, then I'll be forced to reveal your greatest secret"

"I've already done that, I told IF"

"No, that's not it, I'll reveal your name" She told him.

"People already know my name, even if you told the whole world, I don't think anyone would care"

"Not the name you chose, your true name, your title" She said as Ryo went quiet.

"Why would you do that? Don't you know it's forbidden for me?" He asked.

"I know what it would do, but I won't if you just use me and help yourself"

"Fine, I'll use you, but I don't see how you could possibly help me" He said as he seemed to have woken up.

He saw Neptune fighting the monster, but there was a pattern, she kept trying to crap open the hard hat and fail or when she went to attack the unguarded bit, the pickaxes would spin around the monster quickly as a defensive response. He tried to get up, but he could practically feel the pain from the explosion still there and could barely move.

He brought his hand up and it was covered in dark fire.

"Are you happy now, you stupid magic" He said before clenching his fist.

The ground was shaking under the monster until something seemed to have come up. It looked to be spears made out of the dark fire. The monster was impaled from below and was unable to move, the pickaxes fell because of the pain it felt.

"You have caused Ryo and I too much trouble for one day, its time I ended your life" Neptune told the creature before a swing of her purple katana destroyed it and turned it into little bits of data.

Right after she changed back and ran straight to Ryo.

"Ryo, are you okay?" She yelled before she reached him.

"Nep…tune, oh god, I feel so tired and my vision is getting hazy. You don't mind if I just sleep here for a little while?" He asked her.

"No, don't go into the light, whatever you do, DO NOT GO INTO THE LIGHT!" She yelled as he too passed out.


	7. Chapter 6

**Hello, I'm sorry that I haven't updated for a while now and I'm sorry if those of you out there find this a bit boring to read or tiresome, I'm going to use Italics for thoughts, just putting it out there. I will update whenever so don't expect it to come regularly. One more thing, thanking those who actually keep on reading this little story and I might just randomly change things. Again, if you have any questions, just PM me.**

Chapter 6

"WAKE UP ALREADY!" Neptune yelled in his ear.

"Neptune, why are you yelling at me?" He asked as he opened his eyes.

"You're alive, I thought you were dead" She said as she hugged him.

"OW, NEPTUNE, YOU'RE KILLING ME HERE, PLEASE STOP IT BEFORE I DIE" He begged as her strength was crushing him

"I thought you were dead" She said as waterfalls were coming out of her eyes.

"I SOON WILL BE IF YOU DON'T STOP CRUSHING ME" He yelled with the remaining air in his lungs.

"Oops, sorry about that" She said as she applied less pressure.

"Anyway, how long have I been out?" He asked.

"You've been out for a few minutes, I kept trying to wake you up, if you didn't wake up, I would've looked for Compa" She said.

"No, just no, do not allow Compa near me when I'm hurt, I don't want to be killed by the very person trying to save me, so whatever happens, this was a secret and it never happened" He told her

"Ehhh, but why not, you looked like a super hero, all you're missing is a name and some weird outfit" She said.

"Thanks, but I don't plan on ever giving myself a stupid name or wearing a stupid colourful outfit"

"What about Iffy and Compa, I can tell them right?" She asked.

"Do not tell Compa, no matter what happens"

"I don't see why not, Compa's the one who's gonna be healing us"

"Do you remember what happened back at her house, what do you think will happen if she tries to heal us with her syringe?" He asked

"My mouth is shut, this never happened" She said quickly

"Good, now get off me so I can get up" He told her.

"No, I'm not letting go" She argued.

"Why are you being so childish, could you just…?" He asked as he tried to pry her off.

"NEVER" She yelled.

"Oh screw it, I'm too tired for this" He said after giving up.

"Are you okay Ryo?" She asked.

"No, my body is in massive pain, partially from you crushing me and the rest from before and I can't move as much as before" He replied as he tried to get up.

"Then do you need to go to hospital? How many credits do we need?" She asked.

"I'm not going to hospital, also, Neptune, I seem to be lying on a bomb, if you don't hurry up and get off, it might kill us"

"I'm too young to die, Ryo, make sure that bomb is disarmed" She said as she let go and ran, abandoning him.

"Some friend you are" He said as he got up and took a look at the massive destruction caused.

"Get rid of the bomb quickly!" She yelled.

"I lied about that to get you off me" He told her as he heard marching.

"Why do you keep on lying to me?" She asked.

"I had to; anyway, we need to leave quickly"

"Why? What's the special occasion?" She asked.

"The Lastation Defence Force is coming here right now"

"Then let's stay and get a reward from them"

"No, we shouldn't"

"Why not? We did their job for them, why can't we get something?" She asked.

"Fine, if you want to stay, then can you take the both of us up there" He said as he pointed to a roof of a building that remained intact.

"Let's just stay down here" Neptune said.

"If we're up there, I'll show you why we can't stay here"

"Fine" She said reluctantly as she transformed and held Ryo as she brought him up to the roof.

"Thanks, now just watch them" He said as she reverted and the two watched from up high as they flooded the area, all wearing black uniforms and carrying guns.

"Look at all those soldiers, all I can see is black" Neptune commented.

"Quiet Neptune, or else you won't hear it" He told her.

"Area secure, no monsters found" One of the soldiers yelled

"There are civilians here, they're slightly injured" Another soldier yelled as the civilians were being helped up.

"Excuse me; did you two see what had happened here? Do you know who is responsible for all of this?" The soldiers asked.

"Oh, um yeah, there were two people, a boy and a girl were fighting off the monsters" They answered.

"So you're saying that they were responsible for all of this damage?"

"I wouldn't say that, but they were fighting"

"Do you know what these two look like?" The soldiers asked.

"Sure, I didn't get a good look at the girl except that she had purple hair, but the boy had red hair, a red jacket that reached just below his knees, a black shirt and he was wearing black baggy pants" The girl explained in a daze.

"You heard her men, look for these two, comb the area and make sure to check everywhere for these two" A soldier yelled.

"Are you going to thank them?" The guy asked.

"Why would we thank these criminals? They need to pay for causing all of this destruction" The soldier replied.

"Wait, but they fought the monsters and saved us" The girl argued.

"For all I know, they put the monsters here to look like heroes, any information you give us in these people will be helpful, you will also be compensated for all the trouble you've been put through" The soldier said as the civilians were moved.

"Hey, wait!" The girl yelled

"Stop it, you heard him, they could've been with the monsters, let's go" The guy said as they moved.

"Hurry up men, find these two criminals, if you didn't hear the description, we're looking for a boy with red hair and wearing a red jacket and a girl with purple hair, now move" One of the soldiers yelled.

"Why are we criminals? We saved those people didn't we?" Neptune asked in anger as she stood up.

"Stay down Neptune, they won't see us if you sit" He said as he made her sit down next to him.

"But they called us criminals" She argued.

"No, just me actually, if you went down there by yourself, they would mistake you for a civilian even though you have purple hair"

"Aren't you mad though?" She asked.

"Why would I be mad? I knew this would happen, why do you think I went to save the civilians instead of you?" He asked her.

"So you knew you would become a criminal?" She asked.

"Yep, since they only arrived after the fighting, they need someone to blame for all of this, if it had happened in front of a large crowd, it might have been a bit different" He explained.

"Then I'll go and change that, this isn't right, you're being blamed for what the monster did" She said.

"Stop, you shouldn't go down there" He said as he stopped her from getting up.

"Why, they should be thanking us, not hunting us down" She argued.

"Just stop, I've been blamed for many things; this is no different than all those other times"

"But it's not fair" She argued.

"I told you, let it go already… we should also get moving they're starting to search this building" He told her as he heard them.

"Then I'll beat them up when they arrive, they deserve it" She told him

"Enough of that, we need to get moving" He said as he stood up with a look of pain.

"You're still hurt from before, why don't you just use the blue fire?" She asked.

"Look, the blue fire is magic I made myself, it's experimental and like an untested drug, I don't want to use it too much until I have everything figured out" He explained.

"Then what do we do? Do we run?" She asked.

"Yep, except we need to get to where IF and Compa are waiting for us, where was it?" He asked her.

"It was over there, let's just fly there" She suggested.

"I can't fly, you're going to have to carry me" He said.

"Do I have to?" She asked.

"Yes, or do you want to be arrested by those soldiers?"

"Fine, I'll carry you, give me your hands" She said as she transformed.

"If you're going to carry me like that, my arms are going to tear off, how about… you give me a piggyback?" He asked.

"Why a piggyback?"

"We need to hurry up, as long as you fly high enough, the soldiers won't care"

"But, it's embarrassing to give piggybacks" She argued back.

"Neptune, I'll buy you some food later if you do this now"

"… Fine, you promise right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I promise I'll buy you something when I have the money" He said as he hopped on.

"Make sure you remember the promise" She said as they rose up and started flying.

As they rose, they looked back to see the roof being invaded by the soldiers in black.

"Talk about a close call, Ryo, are you still injured?" She asked him to find something surprising.

She felt something on her shoulder, when she turned to look, she saw that he was resting his head and was sleeping.

"How are you sleeping already?" She asked.

"You ask… why I sleep, we're in a… war, soldiers… sleep when they can" He answered in his sleep before yawning.

"Is he answering my question by sleep talking?" She asked, puzzled by his answer.

"He looks so peaceful when he's asleep… You said I was childish; now look at you, sleeping as I give you a piggyback" She told him.

In the dream

"Oh, please God no, not again, I was having a good nap, can't I ever just take a nap without having to face some random shit?" He asked as he saw someone he once knew.

"Hello again Ryoichi" The girl said.

"Since you're in my head, you probably know who I am so could you please take the form of someone who isn't dead, show some respect for the dead" He told it.

"I tried to take the form of someone you know, who's form should I take?" It asked as the form changed into a black form, waving and wobbling about.

"How about someone that's actually alive and why would you take the form of the dead anyways?" He asked.

"You were fond of her, I had no other reason" It said as it took Neptune's form.

"Just asking, are you gonna be serious?"

"Yes, why would I not be?"

"Yeah, then could you look like someone else, I can't take Neptune seriously unless she uses HDD" He told it as it took IF's form, it looked just like her except it's eyes were as black as night.

"Is this satisfactory?"

"Good enough, what do I call you?" He asked.

"Anything will do, it doesn't matter" It responded.

"Fine, I'll call you… Darth Vador, what, you said anything" He said as it stared at him.

"A different name please"

"Oh, okay, I don't see why not, hmm… what about Shade? Will that do?" He asked.

"Yes, now that you're done fooling around, we may beg-"It said as it got interrupted.

"I'm never done fooling around, just saying, also, I might change your name in the future if I get bored"

"Do whatever you want" It said.

"So I can call you Darth Vador then?" He asked.

"I know I said do whatever you want, but please refrain from doing anything stupid"

"Yeah, no, I do stupid things on a daily basis" He said.

"Can we begin now?" It asked with an irritated look.

"Yeah, but I just wanna know, how does magic have a consciousness?"

"I don't know, all I know is that I am black magic, not to be confused with dark magic"

"Um, what's the difference?"

"How do you not know this? Black magic is forbidden magic, dark magic is seen as an attribute of magic, like water or fire, the same with light magic" She explained.

"I sort of forgot, I don't really see the difference though"

"Anyway, I'm going to need information, you are going to summarize your abilities to me, just your magic abilities"

"Do I have to?"

"Yes"

"Okay, I know the basics like fire magic, levitation magic and illusion magic, I don't have enough practice to use any other elemental magic"

"Hmm, then what about your control over your fire magic?"

"The biggest thing I can do is create the flame tsunami, but it's pretty weak and it's only use is to block things or slow them down and is used as a bomb when two are combined, if you were to get hit by one, you would be fine and any magic could easily pass through it, it just slows down arrows and bullets when they fly through or stopping them completely"

"What about solidifying your flames?"

"I can't do long range, I can only solidify my magic close up"

"How close must you be?"

"Say, anywhere around my body within half a meter"

"That's just pathetic, with the dark fire, you can control it a lot more easily"

"Yeah, I noticed, I can do much more with it instead of using the magic I had beforehand"

"Next, what about magic buffs?"

"Flame buffs of speed and strength, doesn't actually increase my speed by a lot, but it covers my entire body"

"That just seems like a waste of magic, you only have to use it on your arms and legs"

"Yeah, I get it, you don't have to say it"

"Now, about burning enemies, you are able to burn enemies by releasing a fair amount of magical power at once, unfortunately this will only work on monsters, it doesn't work on bosses"

"Do you need anything else?"

"No, your control with magic is fairly bad, you only have a lot of magical power because of all the practice you had to go through, in your mind, you know how to use other elemental magic, but must practice. When compared to a Rune Knight from Planeptune, you are below average"

"Thanks, I feel like I just got insulted, do you need any more info?"

"Just one more, do you depend on magic in battle?"

"Not entirely, I do use it, but I don't exactly need it, it's like my sword, I use it because it helps me in battle but I don't need it to win"

"Is all of this information accurate?"

"More or less, anyway, you're meant to be helping me"

"Yes, but, we will continue another time"

He looked incredibly angry and yelled "OH YOU PIECE OF, WHAT WAS THE ENTIRE POINT OF THIS GODFORSAKEN CONVERSATION THEN?"

"Until the next time" She said.

"Ryo, wake up, we've arrived" Neptune said as he woke up.

"Neptune, why'd you wake me up" He asked sleepily.

"Don't go back to sleep!" She yelled as they floated down

"Um, Nep, why are you giving Ryo a piggyback?" IF asked.

"So Ryo is choosing Nep-Nep, I didn't know" Compa said.

"I'm not doing this because I want to" Neptune replied.

"You can drop me now Neptune" He told her as he landed on his feet. Neptune reverted back.

"So, uh, why was Nep giving you a piggyback?" IF asked.

"Did you see that big explosion?" Compa asked.

"Well, she was giving me a piggyback cause I wanted to see what Lastation looked like from the air, the explosion however, was just some leaking gas tank that somehow blew up" He explained.

"So, what you gonna buy me?" Neptune asked him.

"I said when I have the money, so not right now" He told her, she was apparently shocked.

"But you said" Neptune said.

"I said when I have the money, so not right now okay?" He asked an angry Neptune.

"Compa, Ryo is injured, he needs to be treated" Neptune told her in anger.

"Ryo's been injured, then I need to give him some medicine" Compa said as she took out her giant syringe.

"Hmm, now that I take a closer look, you do look a little beat up" IF said upon closer inspection.

"Did you know that Neptune was also injured, she was hurt a lot more than I was, she needs the medicine more than I do" He told her in fear of Compa's treatment.

"I-I'm not hurt in any way possible, you have to treat Ryo, or else he'll faint" Neptune told Compa.

"Which one of you needs the medicine more?" Compa asked.

"Neither of us need it, we're both completely fine, see" He told her as he drank the reflex.

"Oh, okay then, if you are ever injured, just tell me and I'll fix you right up" Compa told them as she put away her syringe. The two breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was dangerous" Neptune commented

"Ryo, don't tell me you had something to do with that explosion?" IF whispered in his ear.

"Yeah, we fought some monsters, they blew some stuff up and we got hurt, but I didn't want to tell Compa for obvious reasons" He whispered back.

"Oh, I see, you didn't want to tell her because you value your life" IF whispered.

"Yeah, but if I do die, I don't want to die by giant syringe, it just sounds pathetic" He whispered.

"What are you two whispering about? Could it be… you like IF?" Neptune asked.

"No, I don't like her" Ryo answered.

"We only just met a day ago" IF told her.

"Where did you two go off to?" Compa asked.

"We've been waiting for a few minutes" IF told him.

"Oh, you know, the usual, saving people here and there, defeating monsters, not much" Neptune answered.

"Did you guys get a quest?" Ryo asked them.

"Yes, we did, but I don't think Nep-Nep will like it" Compa said.

"Hmm, what's this?" IF asked as she was looking at her phone.

"What is it? Is it a secret thingy where we beat up bad guys, save a damsel in distress and beat a gigantic dragon?" Neptune asked. When she spouted this, he just face palmed.

"Ryo, have you chosen Nep-Nep?" Compa asked.

"I have absolutely no idea, IF, what's the matter?" He asked her.

"Apparently, two people are wanted for destroying buildings, they're a girl and a boy, the girl has purple hair while the boy has red hair and is wearing a red jacket, the girl is being held hostage, what did you two do?" IF asked.

"Is that it, we're wanted for destroying buildings?" Neptune asked.

"Are there any other charges?" He asked her.

"Yeah, apparently you two are charged with destroying private property for no good reason and are a danger to the safety of others" IF read out.

"It wasn't my fault" Neptune told her.

"Yeah, as I told you, we fought some monsters and saved two civilians and I'm getting blamed for the entire thing" He said before sighing.

"So you two were fighting monsters, why doesn't it say that there?" Compa asked.

"Good question, do you know why they're only putting this information up?" IF asked the two.

"Ryo said they needed someone to blame and they are blaming him for it, it's not fair" Neptune told them.

"Is it safe for me to wandering around then?" He asked.

"It is for now, nobody really pays attention to these things, let's go" IF said as they left.

IF and Compa explained to Neptune and Ryo on the way what quest they were doing. They were in a forest like place.

"They need work done as well huh?" Ryo asked.

"So why're we working for Avenir if we know they're totally evil?" Neptune asked.

"Idealism won't feed us. You'll never be an adult if you're always picky about food or work. There's our client." IF told her as she pointed out the silhouette of a man.

"If that's what an adult is, I don't wanna be one then" Ryo commented.

"Truer words have never been spoken" Neptune commented.

"…" He stood there, silent and creepy looking.

"Hello, Mr Singe of Avenir. We're Compa, Nep-Nep, Ryo and Iffy. We've come to fight monsters!" Compa told the man.

"…I don't have a choice. I need you to eliminate all the surrounding monsters while I inspect a planet by the city outskirts. Don't let any run loose and cause damage to the facility. Get moving." He ordered them as he walked away.

"What's his problem? He must be underestimating us because of our looks. How rude!" Compa said.

"It's inevitable when you or Nep are around." IF told her.

"I can't say she's wrong, but yeah, she's technically correct" Ryo said.

"Iffy, you're not one to talk when you're that short… and without boobies." Compa told her.

"Iffy doesn't have boobies" Neptune said as if making fun of IF.

"Take a look at yourself, you don't have much either!" IF yelled.

"Yeah, but I'm still bigger and better, have you seen me when I transform, it gets bigger" Neptune said with confidence.

"Okay, I think that's enough, IF looks pissed"

IF looked irritated and ordered "Let's just hurry up and get to work already"

"Fine, let's just run around and kill everything we see" Neptune said as they got to work.

After killing every monster they saw, some were strong, others were completely pathetic.

"There, all done! I don't see any more monsters." Neptune said cheerfully

"Nope. I'm certain the rest ran away. That's all for today!" Compa said cheerfully, just like Neptune.

"I think that's all of them" Ryo said as he stretched.

"The inspection is complete. Are you kids done, too? You sure you didn't miss any?" Singe asked.

"It's all good when I'm on the prowl! We even took out the boss-like one, so I betcha they'll stay away for a while." Neptune said with confidence.

"Good. However, if even one remains and it damages the facility, we will never conduct business with you again."

"Th-That's a bit harsh. Why can't you just repair the damage if that happens?" Compa asked.

"You have no idea, do you? Mere humans should never degrade machinery! Have you ever seen a human as detail-oriented or precise as a machine?" The man asked.

"I have, in fact, I can definitely say that I'm better than a machine in some aspects" Ryo said with confidence.

"I-I don't know… I'm not a machine."

"Right. You're just an incompetent human. Who knows when you'll make a mistake? Being human is no excuse for errors!" He yelled, making Compa start to cry.

"You're correct, being human is also not an excuse to be so mean to a girl either"

"You, how dare you, humans are always expected to make mistakes, I'd rather machines do the job from the very start" Singe told him.

"Yes, but machines aren't perfect, in fact, they can make the more errors than humans in that concept"

"How, please explain how a perfect machine could possibly make more mistakes then an incompetent human?" The man asked with a superior voice.

"Okay, you want a simple explanation, I'll give you one, machines don't know the difference between what is right and wrong, they do not have a better sense of judgement"

"You, machines are perfect, keep that in mind the next time you take a job from this company." The man yelled before walking away.

"Wh-Wh-What did I do to get yelled at? Did I really say something bad?" Compa asked with a tear in her eye.

"Don't cry. You didn't do anything. That was pretty immature of him, yelling at three pretty girls like that. Except you, I think you made him angry" IF told Ryo.

"I don't regret a word" He said.

"M-Maybe he thought… I was making fun of machines…" Compa said as she started to cry.

"But he's mocking humanity! Ryo was the one making fun of machines!" IF yelled.

"The guy got mad at me in the end, IF, can I do something if we ever meet him again?" He asked her.

"What is it?" IF asked.

"Can I punch him in the face the next time we meet?" He asked.

"Is it cause he made Compa cry?" Neptune asked.

"That and I just really wanna punch him for how he acted" He explained.

"Hmm, that's a hard one, but unfortunately as much as I would pay to see that, no, you can't punch him" IF said.

"Dammit, I thought you would say yes" He said in disappointment.

"Should we head back to Chian's place?" Compa asked.

"Let's go back to the cosiness of Chian's restaurant" Neptune said as they all headed back.

"Ryo, do you actually destroy machines?" Compa asked.

"No, I just felt like pissing him off although, I'm pretty sure I could destroy combat machines" He replied.

"Hey, you don't mind if we take a quest on the way do you?" IF asked them.

"More work, why do we have to do so much of it?" Neptune asked.

"Nep-Nep, we'll be helping out more people this way" Compa told her.

"And we might get something about the key fragment" Ryo added.

"Fine, but I get to choose the quest" Neptune yelled.

"Do whatever" IF said before sighing.

When they arrived after grabbing a quest.

"Hiya! Aw, I feel so at home… This dirt counter, the small, confined rooms… The smell of food baked into the walls!" Neptune said with glee.

"…Shut up! Did you meet Singe? What did you think? Isn't he horrible?" She asked rudely.

"Yeah! He made Compa cry with his machinery lecture, Ryo made fun of machines right in front of his face. He's a total creepazoid!" Neptune replied.

"Oh, yeah, I expected as much. He's entirely against manual labour. Did you really insult machines right in front of his face?" Chian asked.

"Yep, I meant every word" He replied.

"You've met him before?" Neptune asked.

"Naturally. He represents that whole company. He's also one of my old school's alumnus. I saw him when he came to lecture a class. I bet he just prattled on about how precise machines are and whatnot." Chian said.

"_He represents the whole company huh, so if I hit him, it would technically count as hitting Avenir_"

"Heh, yeah he did! With that ominous, gruff voice!" Neptune said.

"He doesn't approve of any technician's skills or pride. I despise him, but that's not the only reason." Chian said.

"Is it also cause he's an asshole?" Ryo asked.

"That too, but enough of that. Let's talk about getting you four another job. I need you to go to the next town and get some materials from Chevre. Here. It's the map to his shop." She said as she gave them a map.

Suddenly and randomly the radio turned on for no reason "…Broadcasting public information from the Basilicom. After discussions amongst the Basilicom representatives, the Tech Expo has been cancelled this year."

"What?! Wait a sec!" Chian said in surprise.

"The Sanctuary announced this is due to a decreased number of exhibitors. However, the civil committee speculates that… the Parliament may have pressured the Sanctuary into the cancellation of this traditional event…" The radio announced.

"Are you kidding me? We can't afford to wait four more years! By then, all the factories will be long gone!" She yelled.

"Whoa, Chian, calm down!" Neptune told her.

"This was probably the last chance my factory had…!" Chian said.

"Last chance huh, is there anything else you're able to do?" IF asked.

"I'm sorry, but can you continue with the job, I need to think things through" She said as they left.

"Oh no, what should we do about the job we accepted from Ms. Chian? We already have the map…" Compa said.

"Just give her some time alone, we'll come back later. Anyway… We don't have a single clue regarding the Key Fragment. Why would you take a job about a lost child on top of this?!" IF asked in anger.

"We'll never save the world if we don't save its people! My grandpa said, 'you must learn to walk before you can run!' Compa said with her words of wisdom.

"Doesn't that mean you have to learn the basics before you start the hard stuff?" Ryo asked.

"Then that means we should save small amounts of people before trying to save the world" Compa replied.

"Damn, what Compa said actually makes sense for once" Ryo commented.

"Is that a compliment or an insult? But for now, we need to save that child, the mom looked so worried. There are so many nasty creatures outside of town. Her child will be eaten if we don't hurry!"

"So what? Babies get eaten all the time. It's survival of the fittest. I'll leave you behind if you keep dilly-dallying." IF told Compa.

"Aw, don't be a pooper-scooper. I'll buy you some lollipops later! What's this kid look like?" Neptune asked.

"So, IF, what's it like to be treated like a child by one of the most childish people you'll ever meet?" Ryo asked.

"I'M NOT A CHILD!" IF yelled with an irritated look.

"The mom said her/his body is just an NPC silhouette, so she/he should be pretty easy to spot" Compa explained.

"Ah. I see" Neptune said with signs of distress.

"Sorry, there are two questions I have to ask about that" Ryo commented.

"What's the matter?" Compa asked.

"The parent doesn't even know what their kid looks like, why wouldn't the mother know what her own kid looked like?" He asked.

"What do you expect from NPC silhouettes, it's sometimes really hard to tell if they're a boy or a girl you know?" Neptune asked.

"Um, okay, I'm just going to leave it at that, I don't want to question the common sense or logic of this world as it may drive me mad, how did the kid go missing?"

"The kid supposedly ran off somewhere and didn't come back one day" IF explained.

"Then the kid went into a dungeon and we're going to save him" Neptune exclaimed.

"It's just presumed that this kid was stupid enough to go into a dungeon and didn't run for his or her life… I see, let's just get going" He said.

"What's wrong with Ryo?" Compa asked.

"Any logic he had before this is now being smashed into pieces as we speak" IF explained.

"What's the problem, this is normal isn't it, people getting trapped in dungeons, right?" Neptune asked.

They all just stared at her as an answer.

"RIGHT GUYS?" She asked again.

"I'm sorry Nep-Nep, but" Compa said before stopping.

"Let's just start searching a dungeon already" Ryo said.

"Yeah, let's go" IF said.

"Nep-Nep, if we don't hurry, they're going to leave us" Compa told her as the other two started their walk.

"You two, hurry up or else we're gonna leave you" IF told them.

"I'm up, I'm pretty sure I know which dungeon the kid headed into" Neptune said with a cheerful attitude.

"Well, that was quick" Ryo commented.

"Nep-Nep, how do you know which dungeon the child is in?" Compa asked.

"I'm gonna follow my nose" She said as she got down on the ground and started sniffing like a dog.

"At least warn me before you start doing that" He said as he covered his eyes.

"Doing what?" Neptune asked, oblivious to the fact that she was exposing herself.

"Nep-Nep, your um" Compa said with a red face.

"Compa, you don't have to tell her if she doesn't get it, Neptune, are you going to keep on sniffing until we find a dungeon?"

"Yep, trust me, my nose says we head in this direction" She said as she started moving.

"How are you gonna move if your eyes are closed?" IF asked.

"I can't, could you help?" He asked as he extended his hand.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Take me by the hand and lead me, make sure I don't run into anything"

"H-Hand, but I've never held a boys hand before" IF mumbled.

"Iffy, Ryo, hurry up or else we're gonna save him before you!" Neptune yelled from faraway.

"Fine, IF, if you don't wanna hold my hand, that's fine, just make sure I don't run into anything or trip" He said as he moved towards the voice, still covering his eyes.

"I guess that's reasonable, I'll make sure you don't fall or run into anything most of the time" IF told him.

"That's okay as well, just tell me when Neptune stops acting like a dog" He told her.

After a few minutes of Ryo bumping into things and tripping over stuff while Neptune made fun of him, they arrived at a cave. Compa and Ryo were now linking arms for some apparent reason.

"All right, we're here!" Neptune yelled as she stood back up.

"Ryo, you can stop covering your eyes now" Compa told him.

"Thanks, but first, why are we linking arms?" He asked.

"Don't you like linking arms with me?" Compa asked as if she got offended.

"No, it's not that, but I meant why are we still linking arms?" He asked.

"I didn't notice, Compa, when did you two start linking?" Neptune asked in shock.

"You two were being mean to him by making him walk into walls and tripping over signs, if I do this, then he won't get hurt at all" Compa explained.

"Yeah, but you can let go now" Neptune said.

"Okay, stop right there you two before this turns into a fight, it was pretty funny watching him walk into walls and trip over signs" IF said.

"Iffy, tell Compa to let go" Neptune said as she pulled on his other arm.

"I don't want to let go" Compa replied as she pulled on the other end.

"IF, why am I being pulled on by both sides?" He asked as a game of tug of war was played using him.

"Neptune's just like a kid and you're a toy Compa took from her, must I say anything else?" IF asked him.

"Alright, I know what to do now and the arm Neptune is pulling on feels like it's gonna be torn off" He said before taking a deep breath.

"Compa, let go, he's mine" Neptune told her.

"Nep-Nep, no, I found him first" Compa told her.

"That doesn't make sense that you found me first, but here goes" He said as the two were getting ready to pull, instead of those two pulling, he pulled the two in front of him and made them let go of his arms.

"Stop it, I'm not a toy or a personal possession, none of you own me and I don't own you, now apologize to each other for being so childish" He told them.

"Why, she started it" Neptune argued.

"I didn't start it" Compa argues back.

"I said to stop it" He said as he flicked their foreheads.

"Ow" The two said in unison.

"What'd you do that for?" Neptune asked.

"That hurt Ryo" Compa commented.

"I did it because the two of you are acting like children so say sorry to each other and apologize" He told them.

"Fine, I'm sorry Compa for being childish"

"I'm sorry as well Nep-Nep, we have a child to save" Compa said as the two hugged.

"You solved that situation easily, although, I think the flick to the head was unnecessary" IF said.

"Does it matter, they've stopped fighting and we have a kid to look for" He said as he walked into the dungeon.

"You're right, we've got work to do" IF said as she followed,

"Hey, wait for us!" Neptune yelled.

"Please don't leave us behind" Compa said as those two stopped their emotional hugging and followed.

They entered the dungeon, not knowing what awaited them.


End file.
